Judgement Hour
by DarryLazakar
Summary: March 12, 2011. Ballard Ridge, a once small but busy city, has been overrun. The president has initiated a protocol that would wipe out anyone standing in America, dead or alive. It's a fateful day for AMS Agent Kate Green. She must escape the country within 20 hours or face her death. It's was supposed to be a simple escape. A phone call, changes everything.
1. Chapter 0

**CHAPTER 0 -** **INVASION**

* * *

 **\- DISCLAIMER.**

This story is a work of fiction, more specifically, a fanfiction. All characters, places, and events are all fiction and never happened in real life. Any resemblance to events, locations, and characters, dead or alive, is purely coincidental.

The House of the Dead is a property of Sega. © SEGA. All rights reserved.

The story below is a work of fiction, so please do not consider this an official story within The House of the Dead timeline. Any similarly to real-life events is purely coincidental. The story will contain mild profanity and disturbing scenes.

Lastly, as I'm new to the fanfiction scene, there will be some grammatical errors, plot holes and choices that one might found odd (since I wasn't an English speaking native, and I'm new to the writing scene). If there are any suggestions to improve this work, don't hesitate to let me know.

Now sit back and enjoy!

* * *

 _ **March 12, 2011**_

 _ **Present-day.**_

* * *

 **To: Agents**

 **Subject: Urgent.**

* * *

Due to the recent Ballard Ridge outbreak, and it's spread to nearby cities, we are ordering every agent across the US to prepare immediately. The president has escaped and has initiated the "Purge Protocol". Every city in the States will be obliterated by the detonation of every nuclear weapon in the US, in an attempt to stop the outbreak from spreading.

The protocol will commence on March 13, 2011, at 07.00 AM. A 4-member evac unit will be sent to your location to pick you up and get you out from the country on March 12. Arrival dates will vary between agents. Please look at the attached file to know the arrival date of your evac unit.

File:arrival_date_agents.

Detailed orders to follow once you're out of the country safely.

I wish you good luck.

 **Andrew Schaeffer**

 **\- AMS Director**

 _Received on March 11, 2011. 15.54_

* * *

 _ **12.06**_

2 hours.

A woman had been waiting patiently for 2 hours. She had it all prepped. Gun? Check. AMS badge? Check. Her shopping products? Well, it's not a priority for her, but she did wear her best outfit. A red leather jacket, a floral patterned shirt, a necklace, a black belt with a gun holster, skinny jeans with a small ripped pattern, a leg purse, and a pair of black boots with a hidden knife for safety.

In short, she's ready to leave.

But the woman was supposed to leave 2 hours ago. Her evac crew should arrive at that time, but they haven't arrived yet. Pretty suspicious, considering AMS agents never late for an appointment.

Did they had unexpected setbacks? Are they still alive? Has the AMS left her to die? She doesn't know, and she doesn't want to know either.

She keeps contacting the AMS HQ for answers. No one's picking up the phone.

The alarm suddenly rang. The security system alerts the woman that someone is trying to break into the house. Her safe house is fitted with a security system. If someone tried to break-in, the alarm will ring. In this situation, no one's gonna dare to break into her house and steal some cash. Unless...

The woman quickly checked her computer, right next to her bed. She checked the CCTV cameras of her safe house, and she found out why it rang. The creatures have arrived at her doorstep, wanting to feast upon her flesh.

The woman grabs her gun, an HK MP7, and goes downstairs.

The creatures have been banging the door for a while. Soon the door would break and they will come inside. The woman prepares to defend herself. She got into her usual shooting stance.

"Come and get me, assholes", the woman said.

Soon the door breaks, and they begin to swarm in.

* * *

The woman opened fire to the creatures. They're pretty easy to kill. Her years of experience instinctively told her to shoot their heads. Soon, they fell unto the ground, one by one. Blood splattered across the floor.

The woman immediately turned her back. She noticed that they came from the back door too. The woman quickly reloads her SMG and opened fire to them. They quickly died and fell unto the floor.

Knowing that staying in the house isn't safe, she quickly gets to the back door, which leads her to an alley. She looked to the left, the tall steel fence is blocking her path. She glanced to the right, her path is clear. She looked back and saw that the creatures kept coming. She quickly took the right path. The creatures have been waiting there, coming towards her. The woman opened fire, shooting anything that stands in her way. Soon the alley is filled with puddles of blood.

The woman then heard a scream, coming from a neighboring house. She quickly busts open the back door of the house and enters it. The owner of the house, a young girl, is dragged by one of the creatures who got into her house. The woman kills the creature before that thing even gets a bite of her.

"Are you OK?" The woman asked the girl.

"I'm fine", said the girl. "I should have left before-"

Before she even finished her sentence, another creature break through the side door and pulled her away. Screams of agony can be heard behind the door.

"No!" The woman quickly came to her aid and kills the creatures. But it's too late, the creature had the last laugh. The girl died from her wounds.

"Damn it..." The woman cursed herself.

At that moment, the woman's PDA rang. Someone called her.

The woman checked her PDA. She didn't recognize the phone number who called her.

"Who the hell called me in this situation?" said to herself. "More importantly, how the hell the caller knew my number?"

Maybe the one who called was one of her friends but has changed his/her number? Maybe someone hacked her phone during her sleep? The woman didn't want to know. What's in her mind now is to escape the city.

But on the other hand, the temptation to know who's behind the number is strong. The woman wants to know who's calling her.

With caution, she answers the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Kate Green I'm speaking with?" said a voice. The voice is a middle-aged man, around 45 years old. His voice assures her that this man can be trusted.

"Yes, this is Kate Green speaking. Who is this?"

"Good to know. My name is Thomas Rogan, and I need your-"

"Wait, what?", Kate asks. "Thomas Rogan? THE Thomas Rogan who stopped Dr. Curien decades ago?"

"Yes, that's me", Rogan replied. "Listen, I don't have much time, and you don't have much time either. So why don't we just met up, work together and get the hell out of this city?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm here in this city to find this terrorist, known by the codename "Cobalt". I believe he's behind the outbreak, and I suspect he's somewhere in the city. I've been on his tail for a long time and I have to get to him before he gets away."

"What do you want me to do?" Kate asks.

"I want you to meet up with me and help me get to Cobalt. You help me get Cobalt, and I'll get you out from the county. Fair enough?"

Kate begins to think. On the one hand, she wanted to help. But on the other hand, she wonders if she's actually talking to Rogan.

"Uh, Kate? You still there?" Rogan asks.

Kate spent quite some time to think, so much that she forgot the danger she's in.

The girl suddenly rises from the door. Her skin turned pale. Her pupils turned white, an indication that she has turned. She lets out a small but monstrous growl.

That growl alone alerts Kate of the danger. She quickly aims and shoots the girl. She died immediately from a headshot wound.

At that moment, Kate had chosen her answer.

"Alright. I'm in. Where do we meet up?"

"Meet me at the Orchard-Mallard intersection. It's a couple of blocks away from you. Now go. I'll see you there", Rogan replied.

"Roger that... But wait! How do you get this num-"

Rogan hung up before she could even ask.

"Great..." Kate complained. She didn't even have a chance to ask him back.

She saw through the front door. More of them are coming to her way. She needs to go to the intersection to meet up with Rogan. That, assuming that the one on the phone is indeed him.

"Well, here we go again. I guess."

* * *

Kate ran as fast as she could. The intersection is just 2 blocks away from her. Huge debris is blocking her way, so she needs to traverse another set of alleyways to get into the intersection.

"Wait."

"Wait a minute, how the hell Rogan knew where I was?" Kate spoke to herself. "Ahh, dammit why I thought about this now?!"

She continues to run, stop for a minute to shoot at anything that tried to get their hands on her. She quickly traverses through the alley.

"Which way should I go- ?!"

Suddenly somebody or something knocked her down from behind. She immediately knew it was one of those creatures. The creature lets out a roar. She can tell that he's hungry.

"Let go!" Kate yelled. She moved her entire body, trying to get free. She kicked on the creature's feet and breaks free. She quickly gets up, and opened fire. The creature died afterward. Her jacket was stained with its blood.

"Damn... My jacket."

Thanks to Kate firing her gun, more of the creatures begin to come after her. Kate starts to run, navigating the increasingly narrow alley. Kate quickly kills one creature standing in front of her, reloads, and quickly shoots the creatures behind her.

Kate is very close to the intersection. All she needs to do is to get through a very narrow alley right in front of her. She quickly attempts to get past the alley, but soon struggled to get through. The alley is so narrow there's no room for her to move her hands, let alone to shoot the creatures.

Right behind her, the creatures have blocked her entrance. Their bloody hands attempt to pull Kate back. Kate scuffs them off and continues to push forward.

The creature's hands touched her jacket. They were close, very close. Kate tried to get her SMG and shoot them, but the narrow alley prevents her from doing so. With no other option, she kept forcing herself to get free.

"Almost there..."

With every last ounce of energy left, Kate forces herself to get out of the alley. She first had one of her hands out, and then use it to push herself out. She got out soon after.

Kate looks back at the alley. The creatures were stuck at the alley. One of them did get their hands out of the alley but their positions make it hard to get free.

Satisfied and proud with the results, Kate begins to mock them.

"Hah! Try and get me now, you slimy basta-"

Kate looks back at the intersection. Her expression changed from satisfied to slightly horrified.

"Aaah..shit."

Kate celebrated too early. She saw a large horde of the creatures standing aimlessly in the intersection. One of them noticed Kate's taunt. He lets out a large roar and begins to go after her. Many others soon followed him. They noticed her. Kate was cornered. There's no place for her to run away safely. The creatures are coming from the left and in front of her. On her right is huge debris blocking the way, and on her back, is the way she came.

Kate opened fire to the incoming horde. They can be taken down easily, but their immense number slowly overwhelmed her. She quickly reloads, and re-empties out her magazine. However, they just keep coming to her.

Kate was forced to fall back. In her mind, she needed something. Something that's loud, loud enough for them to take their eyes off her. She needs a distraction, but she didn't have one. She had grenades but she's too panicked that she forgot to use one.

Kate fall back all the way to a corner. Their huge amount has overwhelmed her. They were closing in, just a couple meters away from her. She fires her gun, killing some of them, but many more quickly come to get her.

In Kate's mind, it's over for her. She's a cornered animal. She'll gonna die horribly and painfully. The taunt she made became the one which kills her.

"Goddammit!" Kate berates herself.

Kate was about to lose all hope when she hears a rather irritating noise. Kate tries to figure out what made that noise. 'Grenade? Nope, too noisy.' Kate begins to think. 'Gunshots? Not noisy enough... Car...?'

"Car?!"

Right when she figures it out, she hears a familiar voice.

"HEY!"

Kate takes a quick look. The creatures were just a few steps away from her. They were distracted by the loud noise of the car.

Not far from her, a black car has arrived at the intersection. The car spun wildly in a 360 spin, knocking down the creatures and kills some of them. Some of the creatures tried to break into the car, but the driver knew what they were doing, begins going in reverse, knocking them down and even ran over one of them.

The driver exits the car, with the engine still on. He brings out a shotgun and mows down nearby enemies.

"Don't just stand there! Kill them!" Said the man.

Kate immediately knew who he is. Kate soon shoots the distracted creatures and makes her way to the car.

Rogan provides cover fire from the car, killing nearby creatures while also keeping the creatures distracted, allowing Kate to move forward.

"You guys are just as annoying as those guys back in 98'." Rogan mocks the creatures and mows down some more. Kate opened fire to the creatures and makes progress.

Kate and Rogan take turns killing down the creatures. Rogan fired his shotgun while Kate reloads, and then Kate fired her rounds while Rogan reloads his shotgun. The strategy worked. The two managed to take down numbers of them, allowing Kate to have a clear path to the car

"Get in, hurry!" Rogan hurriedly told Kate.

Kate quickly gets inside the car. Rogan quickly re-enters his car. The creatures tried to break into the car. Rogan shifted the gears and hits the brakes. The car moves backward, knocking down one of them. Rogan shifted the gears again, and the car hits another creature. Rogan continuously shifts his gears, moving the car back and forth. He then hits the gas, and the car moves forward. One of the creatures tries to hang onto the doors but couldn't hold on.

The car soon sped away, leaving the horde behind.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1 - DESOLATION**

* * *

 _ **March 9, 2011**_

 _ **11.34**_

 _ **Several days ago...**_

It was just one normal day for Kate. The 29-year-old AMS Agent is just enjoying her precious free time in Ballard Ridge, a small but crowded city, just a couple miles from DC. The sophisticated young woman had suffered a lot during her work, and the AMS was kind enough to give her a "vacation".

Vacation. That's something she hasn't experience for quite some time, and Kate plans to spend and enjoy every last second of it.

She had it all planned. She's planning to visit the ever famous Ballard Mall to get the finest clothing she could get her hands on. Her fashionista side just can't resist the urge to buy some clothes. Then, she plans to visit a well-known spa near the mall. Later that evening, she plans to visit the shopping district near her safe house to get her hands on more clothing.

Kate had it all planned out, and it seems everything just went fine for her...

But then, she heard an explosion at the distance.

The city soon plummets into a mess. She saw people running away from the source of the explosion. She saw one of those people who ran. They looked terrified as if they saw something straight out from hell.

Before she even knew it, a man with a military outfit, a soldier, already stands in her way, asking her to leave. There are plenty of soldiers like him as well, ordering and helping the people to get to safety.

"Ma'am, you need to get to safety, now. This is a code red alert." said the soldier in an ordering manner.

"Kate Green, AMS Agent. I need an explanation," says Kate. She took out her badge and ID and show it to the soldier. The man saw the badge and quickly recognizes it. He gives a nod of approval.

"Mrs. Green, I need you to get to safety immediately." said the man.

"No no no, not until I know what is going on," Kate said firmly.

The soldier reluctantly gives her his binoculars. Kate took it from his hands and uses it.

Kate can't believe what she saw.

From the distance, she saw people running away from the creatures she and the AMS fought for years. A terrible monstrosity from the messed up mind of Dr. Roy Curien, they have been the cause of death of more than a billion lives. They're dangerous, infectious, move in packs, and too stubborn to die properly.

Now, they came for Ballard Ridge.

"No... Not again." Kate spoke silently.

"Well, fate's a bitch, isn't it? That's why you need to get to someplace safe. We've got orders from the AMS HQ to get their agents to safety no matter what. That, includes you, Mrs. Green."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Kate said. "No way the HQ give such orders.

"Orders are orders, Mrs. Green. Can't deny that," said another soldier.

"Don't worry about us, we can handle this." The soldier said with confidence.

"Oh come on! Enough with the 'we can handle this' bullshit." said Kate as she instinctively tried to get past the soldiers. She wanted to grab a gun and fight alongside them. She knew they weren't ready for this.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Green. You cannot do that." The soldier said while blocking her way.

"Let me go!"

"Mrs. Green!" The soldier told Kate again, this time very loudly, effectively stopping her movement. "I understand you wanted to help, but orders are orders. We're not allowing you to take part in this fight. Never. Get to safety as soon as possible."

Kate stared at the soldier. Deep down, she wanted to help. She really wanted to see him and his comrades make it out alive. They essentially walking towards their doom, and she's powerless to stop it.

Kate stopped at her attempts. She let out a big sigh.

"Alright. I'm leaving. Be careful out there," said Kate, though she knew they wouldn't be able to make it out alive easily.

The soldier, instead of feeling scared and horrified, actually let out a faint smile, as if he accepts his horrible fate. He makes a salute to her, and Kate instinctively salutes him back.

Slowly, she walks backward and begins to jog, and then run, as fast as she could, back to her safe house, to prepare for what's to come.

Kate looks back for a while. She saw the soldier and his comrades ready their guns, aiming toward whoever comes to them. She saw a group of armored vehicles moving towards the battlefield. The cars stopped and form a makeshift barricade. A few more soldiers coming out from the cars. Some of them carry large weapon crates and drops them on the street, planning to set them up. From afar, gunshots can be heard all across the city. The battle has begun.

"It's happening, all over again," Kate spoke to herself.

She continues to run as the city fell into chaos.

* * *

 _ **March 12, 2011**_

 _ **13.20**_

"Thank you," Kate spoke to Rogan. "Thank you for saving me."

"No problem," Rogan replied.

Kate looks at Rogan. He has short brown hair and a very thin beard. He wore a long brown trench coat, cream-colored shirt, and what seems to be green military combat trousers and boots.

Kate never met Rogan before. She only knew the fabled legend of the duo Thomas Rogan and G, two men single-handedly stopping Dr. Curien's inhumane plans. While she has met and worked with G before, she never worked with Rogan, let alone see him in person. Alongside G, the man is a myth among the agents.

However, from his mannerisms to his choice of clothing, Kate knew she's with the real deal. He is indeed Thomas Rogan, in the flesh, saving her life. And now, she's working together with him to take down whoever he's coming after.

Rogan tries to calm things down, "Well, this is our first time meeting each other, eh?"

"Yeah," Kate replied. "At first, I doubted that it was you. But now I know, it is you. I mean, it's an honor to meet you in person, let alone work together."

"Haha, take it easy," Rogan replied with a smile. "So, you have any questions or anything? Seems like from our conversation last time you had plenty of questions."

"Oh yeah..." Kate told Rogan. "I had plenty of em. First of all, how do you get my number?"

"I had my sources." Rogan simply replied. Kate looks at him with suspicion.

"He's an AMS agent like you, so stop looking me like that." Rogan quickly replied again.

"Ooooookay..." Kate accepts his answer. "Secondly, how do you know my location?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but my sources have granted me access to your phone by remote hacking. I had your location, emails, files-"

"What?! Are you serious right now?"

"Calm the hell down Kate! I just want to make sure you're not working for him."

"Him?"

"Cobalt. The terrorist that I mentioned? I suspect him as a member at AMS."

"Did you just accuse that a member of the AMS has gone rogue under our noses? That's some serious accusations right there."

"Yeah, I did. That's why I need your help to stop him."

"Tell me about this 'Cobalt' first," Kate asks. "What did he do? Why he's here?"

"Cobalt is the one behind several outbreaks, for the last couple of years," Rogan explains. "Jakarta, Pyeongchang, Rio, Melbourne, you named it. It's all his fault. He covered his tracks very well, that's why the AMS is having trouble finding out the cause of those outbreaks. You guys assume that it's accidental; that the creatures got into the city through the sewers, how a guard got infected and spread it to others, and whatnot, but in truth, he's spreading the virus on purpose. As you know, I'm already retired, by the book. Well... I'm actually not. I'm trying to gather pieces of evidence for the last 4 years, to prove that he's doing this, with no government strings attached to me."

"I see. That's why you suddenly 'retired'. To gather evidence without the intervention of the AMS."

"Yeah, that's pretty much why I 'quit'," Rogan said.

"Why is he doing this?"

"I don't know. I suspect he's working together with someone, for money. He spreads the virus, and he gets the big bucks."

"Ahh... I see." Kate replied.

"Anything else?" Rogan asks Kate.

Kate thought hard to come up with a question. "Since you've hacked my phone, can you tell me what happened to my pick-up crew?"

"I killed them." Rogan simply told her.

"What?" Once again, Kate looks at Rogan with suspicion. "Why?!"

"Those 'pick-up' crew you ask? Those are mercenaries hired to kill you. I killed them before they come and get you."

"Are you telling me right now that the AMS Director is Cobalt? No way it'll be him."

"I had my doubts too. The new Director is Andrew Schaeffer, right? From the looks of it, he's no corrupt man I suppose." Rogan told Kate.

"Maybe it's one of his men who secretly working against him?"

"Maybe. The only way to find out is to look at it by ourselves." Rogan assured Kate.

"Yeah..." Kate calmed down a bit.

"So? That's all?" Rogan asks Kate. "Seems like you've run out of questions."

"Uh... One more question. I think." Kate told Rogan. "Where are we going?"

"We're heading to this place," Rogan told Kate while pointing at the GPS in the car. " We're meeting Valentino Hammond, a source of mine. He's an arms dealer who agreed to work with me in exchange for his safety. He had some intel about Cobalt's whereabouts. We get to his apartment, get what we need, take him with us, get Cobalt, and we all can go home. Sounds good?"

Kate once had doubts with Rogan's intentions, but after listening to his explanations, she's sure that Rogan isn't lying. He genuinely needs her help. However, she needs reassurance.

"Why me?" Kate asks Rogan. "I mean, you suspect someone from the AMS to be the perpetrator. It could be me, but you instead trust an AMS agent, to help you. Why?"

Rogan thinks for one moment before answers her question with confidence. "Because I believe you're not a person who does something like that. My source believes in you. In fact, he's the one who suggests that you should accompany me."

"I've put my trust in you. You better don't break it." Rogan then told Kate with a serious tone.

Kate thought about it for one moment. She has a feeling that he's similar to her former partner James, only this time, more naggy and persistent.

Kate replied with a smile. "I won't let you down, Sir Tom."

Rogan replied back with a smirk. "Just call me Rogan, please."

"Alright then, ...Rogan."

"By the way, I thought you want to ask one question, not two," Rogan said jokingly.

"I know. Should have said two." Kate smiled.

The GPS beeps. Kate and Rogan look at the GPS. They were about to arrive at the apartment complex.

"Well, about time," Kate said. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

The car makes a stop in front of the apartment complex. Kate and Rogan exit the car.

"Ok, here's the plan," Rogan explains. "Valentino's room is 2113. Room number 21, on the 13th floor. The place is overrun by the creatures, so proceed with caution. You understand?"

"Roger that," Kate replied. "By the way, just wondering, what are you gonna do after all this was done and you get me out of the country?"

"Me? I had some unfinished business in AMS HQ. I don't want to involve you any further than that."

"Ok, I guess." Kate sounds a bit disappointed. Rogan seems to notice that Kate wants to help him all the way through.

"You ready?" Rogan asks Kate.

"Sure. Let's go." Kate replied back.

The two moved into the receptionist area. There are bloody footsteps on the floor, leading towards a swimming pool on the back of the area. They saw a door on the far right of the room, leading towards the stairs. They also saw two bodies, sitting lifelessly on the sofa on the far left of the area.

"Kate, wait here," Rogan told Kate. "I'm going to take a look."

Kate nods in agreement. Rogan slowly moves towards the swimming pool area.

Rogan took a glance at the swimming pool in front of him. Seems like somebody had a pool party. It didn't end well, as he saw a group of creatures has infested the area. He saw a couple of dead bodies being devoured by the creatures.

Rogan quickly went back to the receptionist area. Kate is waiting for him.

"Well? Are we good?"

"Uh... no. There's something you'll never want to see up close." Rogan told Kate. His face looked slightly pale after looking at the disturbing sight. Kate's expression changes from cautious to slightly worried.

"There's a lot of them, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Rogan nods. "But we should keep moving."

"I didn't like this," Kate told herself.

The two backs away from the hall and head towards the emergency stairs instead.

Rogan checks the emergency stairs. No one's around.

"We're good. We can go up from here. Let's go." Rogan said to Kate.

Rogan begins to climb the stairs. Kate meanwhile, looks at the seemingly endless flight of stairs.

Kate complained silently. "On second thought, why do I have to climb 20 or so flights of stairs?"

Rogan, noticing that Kate hasn't climbed the stairs yet, told Kate from above. "What are you doing Kate? What's the problem?"

"Uh, nothing!" Kate told Rogan.

"I shouldn't agree on this," Kate complained again.

Kate unwillingly climbs the stairs.

* * *

Kate has climbed 12 flights of stairs. She has just climbed 6 floors. She still has 7 floors to go. She's worn out, tired.

Rogan's already waiting for her on the 6th floor. He arrived earlier than Kate. He seems tired but has recovered some energy.

"What's wrong Kate?" Rogan jokingly mocks Kate while panting. "You're not very good at climbing stairs I see."

"Hey it's not easy even if you're a 20-ish-year-old agent," Kate replied. She sounds slightly pissed.

"Well, that's what happens when you go shopping for a living."

"Alright, you went too far on that one."

Suddenly, Rogan's expressions changed from playful to cautious. Kate immediately knew that something is nearby.

"Shhh! Quiet down." Rogan quickly told Kate.

Above them, they hear a door open. A man can be heard moaning in pain, as he crawls to the stairs. His agonizing screams can be heard loud and clear. It seems that he's got bit and he's bleeding so much that he couldn't be saved.

"Heeeelp me..." The man cried. "Somebody, anybody... help me..."

"What should we do?" Kate whispered to Rogan. "I think we should go and help-"

Before Kate even finishes her sentence. Somebody, or something, bust through the doors above them and grabbed the poor man. The man cried in agony as he got pulled away from the stairs.

A faint scream can be heard. Followed by the pleas of mercy.

"No please! Stop! STOP! AHHHHHH!"

The screaming stopped.

There was silence in the stairs. Rogan didn't move a muscle, while Kate slowly puts her hand on her mouth in shock. Both struggled to process the situation.

Rogan breaks the silence. "...Shall we?"

Kate didn't speak a word, but she nods in agreement. She still looks shocked about what happened.

They both slowly moved upwards towards the 7th floor. The floor is covered with a trail of blood coming from the door. Kate took a small peek from the door. She can't see clearly, but she could tell that the man was devoured, eaten by... them.

"We should just go," Rogan told Kate.

"Yeah. The more we stay the more we get ourselves in-"

Suddenly, two creatures bust open the door. They must have heard their conversation and start coming towards them. Kate was pinned down by one of them while the other tried to grab Rogan.

"Kate, hang in there!" Rogan told her!

"I'm trying as hard as I can!" Kate frantically told Rogan as she tried to keep the creature from biting her neck.

Rogan quickly took out a knife out from his coat. He quickly stabs the creature once in the throat, and once more on the head. The creature, still alive, tried to bite Rogan again but Rogan quickly stabs him again in the throat, this time slicing his neck open. The creature died afterward with its blood spewing out all over the place.

Rogan quickly came into Kate's aid. He grabs the creature's neck and throws the creature to the wall. Before the creature has a chance to attack Rogan, Kate quickly took out her pistol from the holster and shoots the creature in the head.

Rogan was impressed by Kate's quick thinking. "Not bad."

"Thanks," Kate said while getting up.

Their moment of victory is cut short when they heard a distinct, loud, murderous roar.

Rogan looks through the door. A horde of creatures are heading towards them. Kate looks down and saw another horde coming from below.

"We have to go! C'mon!" Rogan hurriedly told Kate.

The two quickly climbed the stairs. The creatures soon followed them.

Rogan and Kate quickly climb upstairs, Kate opened fire towards the creatures, buying them some time.

They soon arrived at the 13th floor. Kate and Rogan quickly get through the door.

"Kate! Hold the door, I'll find something to hold it up!" Rogan hurriedly told Kate as he ran off to find something.

The creatures were about to swarm in. Kate pushes the door to hold them up. Their immense number and strength began to overwhelm her.

"Rogan. Hurry!" Kate screamed.

Rogan quickly arrives with a steel pipe he found. He pushes the door down, replacing a worn-out Kate.

"Put the pipe on the handles, Quick!" Rogan told Kate while holding the door.

Kate quickly pushes the pipe and place it unto the handles. The pipe manages to hold the door in place, preventing the creatures from getting out from there. They tried to bust the door by pushing it but failed. The two lets out sighs of relief, as they slowly sit on the floor, completely exhausted.

"We're alive. What a relief." Rogan said

"I shouldn't fire my gun," Kate complained.

Rogan looks at Kate, he can tell she felt guilty for nearly getting them devoured.

Rogan tries to cheer Kate up. "It's fine. I mean, we've made it to the top, and still alive, right?"

"...yeah."

Rogan gets up and lends a hand to Kate. "C' mon. Let's get in contact with Valentino."

With Rogan's help, Kate gets up and they both walk towards Valentino's room.

* * *

 _ **14.38**_

"Something's... off" Rogan muttered.

The two inspect Valentino's room. The door was left open, unlocked. The two entered his apartment with caution.

Valentino's apartment is small but spacious, with a small living room on the front, kitchen, and bedroom on the back, a desk on the left, and a small stair leading to the upper floor on the far right. However, the room is very messy. Papers and newspaper articles were all over the place as if a thief breaks in and ransacked the place. Valentino is nowhere to be seen. His laptop fell on the ground, with a cable still attached unto it.

"Kate, go take a look on the upper floor, I'll go and have a look on the laptop."

Kate nods and slowly walks towards the upper floor while Rogan picks up the laptop.

Rogan tries to dig up Valentino's findings on the laptop. He found a series of notes written by Valentino, detailing his findings. He finds a folder filled with research blueprints and experiment notes. Rogan looks at the desk and found numerous newspaper articles, all detailing the past outbreaks of Jakarta, Rio, and many more.

"This is huge, really huge," Rogan spoke to himself.

Rogan connects his PDA with the laptop and starts collecting Valentino's findings.

Meanwhile, Kate climbs the stairs leading to the upper floor. The room upstairs seems unused. Boxes and furniture covered with fabric were put without care. Kate slowly checks the seemingly empty room. Kate looks at one of the boxes and found old newspaper articles, with some segments were cut out.

At that moment, Kate notices something moving behind the boxes at the far back of the room. Kate carefully moves towards the far back of the room. She saw something hiding among the boxes. She can feel something demented and dangerous behind the boxes.

With one breath, Kate begins to ask.

"...Valentino?"

Suddenly, Rogan heard gunshots coming from upstairs. He can hear Kate's panicked voice.

"Hey! Stay back! What the... WHAT THE HELL-?!"

The ceiling breaks and Kate fell to the ground. A giant scythe-like arm grabs Kate from above.

"Let me go you freak!"

Rogan quickly grabs his shotgun and opened fire to the mysterious creature. The creature soon lets Kate break free from its grasp.

Rogan quickly came into Kate's aid, helping her stand while opened fire to whoever is upstairs.

Kate holds her back in pain. "What the hell is that?!"

"I don't know, come on!" Rogan said to Kate while helping her to stand.

The two quickly fall back. Rogan quickly unplugs his PDA and tried to get out of Valentino's room. Before they could reach the door, they hear a voice speaking to them from behind.

"Hey there!"

Rogan looks at Kate. He gives a subtle message to Kate. Rogan and Kate quickly turn their backs. Their weapons were drawn out.

On the other side of the room is a young, 27 or so year old man with a messy long black hair. His clothing was suspiciously ragged, with a torn shirt and ripped pants, as if he had just gone home from a street fight.

Rogan quickly recognizes the man.

"Valentino?" Rogan said to the man.

Rogan lowers his gun, Kate, however, stayed cautious.

"Kate put down your gun," Rogan told Kate.

"Not gonna do it. I feel something wrong about him." Kate replies.

Rogan then shifted his attention to Valentino. "What happened? You're a mess."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine." Valentino replies.

"Tell me what happened. There's gotta be a reason for your ragged shirt. I know you're not fine. Not even close." Rogan told Valentino.

Instead of answering the question, Valentino diverts the topic of discussion. "You had my money right?"

"Answer the damn question, Valentino." Kate chimes in.

"I need my money, Rogan."

Rogan slowly raises his gun. "Valentino, answer the question."

Something's not right." Kate told Rogan.

Valentino suddenly walked forward towards Rogan. "I demand an extra payment to my account. I just got a call from my mom and dad. They say that what I sent to them isn't enough."

Rogan replied angrily to Valentino. "Hey, I did send some money to your account, more than enough for you to-"

"It's not enough, Rog!" Valentino angrily tells him back. "It never was enough! If it was, why my parents keep telling me that it's not?!"

Valentino continues to walk towards them. Rogan and Kate moved backward. The two walked backward in caution as Valentino walks towards the door and exits the room.

Valentino changes the topic once again. His tone changes from angry to somewhat playful. "Hey uh, do you know that the message I sent you is a lie?

"What?!" Rogan asks. "A lie, you say?! So you're feeding me lies all this time, so you can ask for more money?!"

Valentino reiterates. "Yeah! I mean, I did tell you the truth. The info that you got from me is legit. But you haven't paid me enough, Rogan. That's why I lied of saying Cobalt was here, so I can collect my money."

"Do something, Rogan..." Kate told Rogan. "I had a really bad feeling about this guy!"

"Listen, Valentino. I did send you money, alright? It's on your bank account. $50000, that's more than an average person makes in a year, now in your account..." Rogan calmed down and tried to talk to Valentino. "Now I hear you want some more, yes? I can make that happen. 50000 dollars you say? That's nothing for me. I can give you more than 50K. Do you want 100K? 150K? or 200K?"

"Do you tried to scam me, Rogan?!" Schaeffer said angrily. His voice turns more and more demonic. "Do you think that trick would work on me?! YOU CANNOT OUTSMART ME YOU MILITARY SCUMBAG!"

"Rogan, what the heck is going on? Did you owe him money or something? Did he forget to drink his medicine today? Is he bipolar?!" Kate asks Rogan.

"I don't know, but that's not the Valentino I know. He's such a good kid I swear." Rogan said.

"ROGAN!" Valentino suddenly screamed and makes a stopping gesture. "Kill me!"

"W-what?!" Rogan seems flustered.

Immediately after begging Rogan to kill him, his body began to twitch. His body turned pale. Valentino starts screaming in pain. Even in pain, he tried to speak to Rogan.

"Kill... me. I got... infected. Kill me."

Rogan looks at Valentino in disbelief. "...what?"

Valentino became out of control. He slowly walks to the guardrail, tripped, and fell to the ground below.

"No!" Rogan yelled.

Rogan quickly gets to the railing. He couldn't see Valentino's body from above.

"Shit..." Rogan muttered.

Kate realized something is wrong. She heard an odd buzzing sound coming towards them. It's getting closer and closer, coming towards them. She looked down from the guardrails and saw 2 giant scissor-like blades coming towards them.

"Get down!"

Kate pulled Rogan away from the railing and ducks just in time before the blades destroy the railings. A creature flies through the dust and hovers above them.

Kate and Rogan finally saw the giant creature who attacked them earlier: A humanoid hybrid of a frog, a mantis, and a hornet. Its hands have mutated and became a giant scythe-like blade, sharp enough to slice a normal person in half. Its legs were deformed and turned into frog-like appendages with weird webbings around its toes. Its body has mutated and increased in size and mass. It forms a pair of hornet-like wings on it's back, and creates a secondary set of legs on the body, possibly to hold on and walk on surfaces. The head has mutated into a mantis-like shape, with sharp claws on its mouth. Its skin excreted a thin slimy layer of protection.

Rogan and Kate look at the creature. Rogan in particular looks in disbelief as the creature lets out a monstrous roar.

"What the hell are you?!" Rogan said. There's a hint of fear coming out from his voice as if he has seen something as horrifying before.

Kate noticed pieces of fabric on the creature's body. The realization hit her hard.

"Oh god... Not one of you!"

"'One of you?'" Rogan asks Kate. "What do you mean?!"

"I'll explain later!"

Rogan quickly took out his PDA and do a quick scan on the creature, using the files he just collected from Valentino's laptop. The PDA identified the creature as Type P-1104, known as "Zadkiziel". According to the PDA, a couple of shots to its unprotected arm should be able to stop the creature.

"The arm! Shoot the arm!" Rogan exclaimed.

Kate agreed and opened fire to the creature. The creature dives down and starts chasing the two. The creature began to swing its arms erratically, destroying nearby railings and doors. Rogan and Kate ran in panic, trying to shoot its arm whenever they had the chance. The hail of bullets from the guns forcing the creature to change its strategy. The creature begins to seemingly fly away but returned to stab the two with its blades. Kate and Rogan manage to duck and dodges just in time. The creature crashes down to a nearby room, but it's not enough to kill it. The creature soon gets up and swings it's scythe erratically, destroying nearby property. Using his blades, he charges upon the agents, swing his blades in an attempt to ambush the agents by attacking through the doors. Rogan, knowing what the creature is doing, shoots it's arm just in time before they got sliced in half. The creature tries to hurl furniture towards the agents with its legs, but Rogan and Kate dodge it before it crushed them. Rogan runs towards the creature and slides under it, allowing her to attack its exposed arm from the back. Frustrated, the creature swings its scythe towards Rogan erratically, forcing him to escape. Rogan shoots a pressurized pipe above her, temporarily stunning the creature with its gas and allowing him to escape safely.

Seemingly angry and agitated, the creature flies around and rams right towards Rogan and Kate. The two managed to dodge it, but Rogan was forced to fall back to a corner. The creature moves towards Rogan, cornered with no way to escape. The creature raises its scythe, ready to decapitate him.

"Hey!" Kate shoots the creature's head. The creature diverts it's attention and starts chasing Kate, leaving Rogan behind.

"Come here you!" Kate yelled.

"Kate, what are you doing?" Rogan asks Kate.

"Making a diversion!" Kate told Rogan.

Kate enters a room, destroyed by the creature's blade swings. Kate attempts to distract the creature so that Rogan could attack the creature from the back, that is if Rogan could even understand her intentions.

Kate begins to bait the creature. The creature swings its blade and Kate dodges it. The creature slams it's scythe-like an axe but Kate quickly moved to the left and avoids it with ease. Kate opened fire and attack its arms, hurting the creature. From behind, Rogan seems to notice what Kate was doing and slowly approaches the creature, knife at hand. Kate kept moving, trying to keep the creature's attention towards her. The creature, however, managed to hit her in the arm, injuring her. Kate fell back to a corner. The creature seems happy, finally got its proper meal.

Kate saw Rogan sneaking behind the creature. It appears that Rogan understands her plan.

She begins to smile a bit. Rogan knew it's his opening and attacks it from behind, allowing Kate to get away from that corner. Rogan stabs the creature multiple times. The creature roared in pain as Rogan stabs the abdomen. Rogan uses his knife to climb at the creature and attacks its wings. The creature moved erratically, but Rogan hangs on. Kate shoots it's head, distracting the creature even more. The creature tried to slice her down, but Kate dodges it and gets away further to safety.

Rogan cuts down its wings, and the creature can't take it any longer. The creature moves erratically, trying to get Rogan off his back. The creature crashed and hits the wall multiple times, trying to get Rogan off its body. Exhausted, Rogan finally let go of his grip and watches as the creature roared in pain. The creature moved backward, didn't know that he is moving towards its death. Kate fired one more round towards its face and blinding the creature. The creature moves backward and fell to the ground below.

Kate, tired and worn out, mocks the creature. "Do me a favor, and stop bug-ging me." Kate then quickly came over Rogan's aid. "You're alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Rogan replied. "By the way, who taught you about that strategy, huh? Why you left this old man to do the tiresome work?"

"Haha, sorry about that. I'll do the dirty work next time." Kate chuckled. "C' mon, get up."

As Rogan gets up, they hear a familiar roar. The floor shakes a bit. Kate suddenly freezes up. Rogan noticed Kate slowly getting ready to pull the trigger. Rogan looks the ground and sees a shadow behind them, resembling a pair of scythe-like blades. Rogan quickly understands and grabs his shotgun, ready to fire.

The two looked at each other in the eyes. They both made a small nod, knowing what they have to do next. In one fell swoop, Rogan and Kate turned around and shoot their guns. The bullets hit straight to the creature's head, bursting it open and revealing its innards.

Rogan looked at the creature. The creature slowly deformed into a humanoid man, ragged and covered in blood. It's head portion has a nasty large open wound no regular human could survive. Rogan looks in horror as the creature turned around and looked at him.

"...Valentino?"

The young man raises his head. Blood spewing out from his mouth. Struggling to speak, the man spoke to Rogan.

"Rogan. I'm sorry."

Valentino fell. Rogan and Kate watch from above. The young man's body fell into the pool below him. The blood from his body contaminates the clear water from the pool. The creatures came to his body and feast upon it.

Rogan looks down and closes his eyes, mourning in silence. Kate felt the pain Rogan has felt.

"I'm sorry kid. You did well." Rogan silently spoke.

Rogan looks back at Kate. "C' mon, let's go. We had a lot of digging to do."

Rogan silently mourns for Valentino as he and Kate walked back to Valentino's room.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2 - UNITY**

* * *

 _ **14:08**_

"Two days." A woman complained. "It's been two days since we've trapped here, and they still haven't arrived yet."

"Have some patience, Kate." A man said to the woman. "They're probably still searching for us beneath the rubble. Besides, we've buried 5 floors underneath the surface, it's gonna take them a long time to find us."

"Yeah, but I _really_ need to take a shower..." Kate replied.

The man didn't reply back, he was busy tapping his PDA.

"Uhh, James? What are you doing?" The sophisticated agent asks.

"I'm trying to make contact with HQ. Who knows I might find out what is happening on the surface." James simply said.

"Ah, I see."

There's a long silence after that. James is still busy with his PDA, while Kate ended up fell asleep while waiting for rescue to arrive.

* * *

Kate wakes up. She's covered with a coat. She looks at James, who is sitting on a nearby chair.

"How's your sleep?" James asks.

"Hmmm? Very well." Kate yawned and replies to James. She looked at the coat that covers her body. She's soon awakened by it. "What the?"

"I thought you need rest so I lend you my coat," James explained.

"Ah... ah. Th-thank you." Kate blushes.

"No problem." James smiled.

"Here." Kate gets up and awkwardly gives back James' blue coat. James casually takes it and wears it back.

"So." Kate tries to lighten things up. "Got anything?"

"No luck. I've got no signal to make contact with." James said. He seems disappointed and stressed out.

"Dammit." Kate curses.

"Looks like we're going be here for a while..." James said.

Again, a long silence afterward. It's understandable though. The two have just met each other. Kate has just been accepted as an official AMS agent 2 months ago, after 2 years of tough training sessions, and after all that training, one of her first tasks in the Agency is to help senior agent James Taylor looking for some classified documents. The two getting trapped five floors underground, and became partners is just pure coincidence.

...or is it?

After a long while, Kate breaks the silence by asking James a question. "Hey uh, James?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you believe in 'fate'?"

"'Fate?'"

"Yeah." Kate begins to explain. "I mean, I feel like everything is all set in motion. It's like someone has engineered everything for this to happen, and we can't change it. What if we're trapped here not by coincidence, but by fate? What if we're teamed up together isn't just pure luck, but were meant to happen?"

Kate stops talking for a moment. She seems to contemplate to say what's next. "...What if the death of my family is not a matter of how, but a matter of when?"

James listened to her words and thought about it for quite some time.

"It's a tough question, anyway. It's fine if you don't want to answer it. It's just... a stupid thought from my head." Kate said and made a somewhat bitter smile.

Kate slowly walks away to a small corner. A small weeping can be heard.

Meanwhile, James continues to think about Kate's question.

* * *

"At this rate, we're going to die of starvation..." Kate complained.

"Patient, Kate. They'll come, I'm sure of it." James replied.

Kate sighs. James knew very well that Kate wasn't prepared for situations like these, just like all the rookies he teamed up with. James looked at his PDA, it's almost midnight. His eyes became weary. His attempts at contacting the AMS all day long have ended in nothing but disappointment.

James looks at Kate once again. She seems very bothered with her own question about 'fate'.

After some thought, James finally talks to Kate, ready to tell her his opinion.

"Kate?"

"Yeah."

"There are some things in life that we just cannot avoid. Fear. Hopelessness. ...death. We just can't avoid those things. That's fate. A 'gift' from God that makes us worry and uneasy throughout our lives. It's cruel. It's evil. It's unfair. But for me, it's the one thing that defines us as a human being: that our days are numbered. We're just a living timer that's waiting it's time to run out. So yeah, I do believe in 'fate', but at the same time, I also didn't believe in fate."

"...why?" Kate asks.

"Because whether you know it or not, we can change our 'fate' and create a better future for ourselves."

"...I don't get it."

"How do I explain this..." James struggled for a moment to explain. "Um, you see, one's fate cannot be changed, that's for sure. We cannot see 'fate', and we cannot alter it physically, but we can always hope that the nightmare is not as bad as we believe. Hope that beyond despair, we find comfort. Hope that even in the brink of death, we'll die knowing that our efforts would change the 'fate' of others. We never know what future awaits us because it was yet to be written, but you can hope that the future will be bright. I believe that's how you control your 'fate'. So yes, and no. I believe in fate because it is something that's was meant to happen, and I don't believe in one, because whatever we do right now, will define our future. Not by others, but by ourselves, because only man himself can control its fate."

Kate looks at James. She looks pretty confused, but at the same time amazed by such an answer.

James smiled. "It's okay, Kate. At first, it may seem to be utter nonsense. It's normal not to understand. You'll understand one day."

James yawns, he's completely tired and worn out.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up if anything happens. Keep an eye on the monitor too for me." James told Kate as he sits back, relax, and fell into a deep sleep.

Kate begins to think about James' answer all night long. Those words about hope stuck on her head. She has yet to understand what he actually meant, but those words kept her thinking.

She has no idea what would happen next.

 _ **September 26, 2003**_

 _ **Several years ago...**_

* * *

 ** _March 12, 2011_**

 ** _15:16_**

"Find anything?" Kate asks.

"Yeah... There's a ton of info here." Rogan replies while looking at Valentino's laptop. "There's files, emails, and blueprints of sorts."

Kate looks at the laptop. She was amazed by how much evidence Valentino has collected.

"Damn. That's a lot of evidence." Kate commented.

"Yeah. He was a good kid, worked extra hard to help me catch this guy. That is until he turned." Rogan said with regret. "I wish I could do more for him. He was like my son, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know that feeling. The feeling of losing someone close to you."

"Yeah..."

There was an awkward silence afterward. Rogan decides to keep looking for clues with the laptop, while Kate decides to look around the destroyed room.

Rogan soon notices an app on the laptop that is still running. Rogan checks the app and saw his face on the screen.

"Hmm?" Rogan said.

Rogan moves his hand a bit, and his reflection on the screen moves as well.

"Face-cam," Rogan said. He then quickly notices the small blinking symbol on the top of the screen. "Hmm? It's been recording? For more than 70 hours?"

"Wait. You mean?" Kate heard his mumbles and asks.

Rogan shuts down the camera and checks what the camera has recorded. Kate quickly joins Rogan as they discovered their first clue. Rogan presses the Enter key, and it plays the video from the beginning.

Rogan and Kate watch the clip together. It details Valentino's activities on March 9th, a couple of days before they arrived. At first, it all seems normal, with Valentino searching for clues and evidence regarding Cobalt's location on his laptop. He occasionally talks to the camera, explaining in detail his evidences. It was clear that these recordings are meant to be sent to Rogan before his arrival to Ballard Ridge. Rogan speeds up the recording, and midway through the video, they saw someone wearing a black hoodie and a mask burst into Valentino's apartment and attacks him. Valentino fights back, making a huge mess along the way, knocking down the laptop and in turn, the camera view. Off-screen, Valentino screamed and a sound of something injected can be heard. Back on screen, the hooded man picks up Valentino's phone and typed something on it before leaving. Off-screen, a sound of something waking up can be heard, followed by a brief shadow of Valentino running towards the upper floor. Brief sounds of Valentino banging and clashing towards something can be heard upstairs, followed by groans of pain. Nothing else happened after that, with Valentino not returning from upstairs, and the camera continues to record ever since.

"What on earth..." Kate said.

"Oh Valentino, the poor kid... He didn't do anything wrong." Rogan spoke in a saddened tone.

"So that guy. The one with the hood. I guess he's the one sending that false message." Kate said.

"Yeah. I've been fooled. If only he told me..." Rogan said.

Kate gets up and inspects the kitchen area. Searching among the mess, she found something.

"Rogan, look at this."

Kate showed Rogan what she has found. She found a small syringe on the floor.

"This must be the one that guy is using against Valentino." Kate deduces.

"Yeah, and whatever it's in that syringe turned him into... that thing." Rogan agrees.

"Who is that guy, anyway? What did he want?" Kate wonders.

"I don't know," Rogan assures Kate. "Whoever he is, he's dangerous."

"Right." Kate agrees.

Rogan closes the bizarre video and scrolled around the files again. As Rogan scrolled around the files, Kate has her attention diverted to a picture familiar to her.

"Wait." Kate suddenly said. "Back up."

Rogan stops scrolling down and scrolls upwards.

"Stop," Kate said. Rogan stopped scrolling. Kate takes the mouse and clicks one of the files. The file is a blueprint scan of a mutated creature.

"I've seen this," Kate told Rogan.

"What?" Rogan asks.

"This blueprint, I've seen this before."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Hang on, let me show you something," Kate told Rogan while taking out her PDA.

Kate opens her PDA. It all seems simple and normal enough at first, but Kate opened the number tabs and pressed a series of buttons to the PDA. The PDA then beeps, recognized the combination and automatically opens an AMS file database.

"Wait, how I've never discovered this?" Rogan seems flustered.

"Maybe because you haven't looked deep enough." Kate jokingly replied.

Kate scrolled down a series of files and stopped at a certain file serial number. She opens the file and showed it to Rogan.

"You see this? It's the exact same file."

Rogan took Kate's PDA and comparing it to the ones at the laptop. Rogan looks at Kate in disbelief.

"How do you get this?" Rogan asks.

"Er.. it was provided by the AMS after the-" Kate pauses. "Oh wait, you left before that operation began..."

"...Operation?" Rogan asks. "What do I miss since I left?"

"A lot," Kate said. "A lot of things changed since you left."

Rogan plugs back his PDA to the laptop and resumes collecting the files. Rogan looks at Kate. She looks pretty stressed out. Rogan begins to reconsider asking Kate a favor, considering her current emotional state, but he has no other option.

"Y'know what Kate? I think it's time for you to explain everything you know about this." Rogan finally told Kate.

"Wait, what?" Kate gets flustered by the sudden request.

"From the moment we fought Val, you said that you 'thought that we've taken care of it.'" Rogan explains to Kate. "From your knowledge and confidence at fighting that thing, and what you said about an 'operation', I believe that you knew what are these things. So that's why, Kate, you have to explain. You have to tell me what I've missed during my retirement."

Kate hesitates to answer Rogan's request. She seems didn't want to answer such question. Kate looked at the far end of the apartment building. She saw an elevator that they can use to get to downstairs quickly.

"Kate! You're listening?!" Rogan asks.

"Uh, sorry to change the topic but, technically, we're done, right?" Kate asks Rogan.

"Technically, yes, we're done. I got misleading info anyway, so there's nothing else to do in this city except to get out. But we're not really finished unless you tell me what you know." Rogan said.

"I'll tell you what, I think we should get to the elevator right there. I think it's going to be much safer if we use that rather than the stairs. I'll explain when we're heading down." Kate suggests. "How 'bout that?"

Rogan thought about it for a moment, he seems to have thought other ways but eventually agrees to the plan.

"Alright then, let's get to the elevator. You better kept your words." Rogan told Kate.

"I always kept my promises, Rogan," Kate assures Rogan.

The PDA beeps, indicating that the files have been transferred. Rogan unplugs his PDA and readies his shotgun. "Shall we?"

* * *

Kate takes a look outside the room. No one seems around.

"We're good to go." Kate signals Rogan.

Rogan takes the lead and moves forward. Kate followed him from behind. The two moved carefully towards the elevator. They need to get past the emergency door from which they came, and ran straight to the elevator on the far end of the floor.

"No creatures seem to be roaming around, and the pipe holds the door pretty well." Kate cheerfully exclaimed. "At this rate, we're getting out of the apartment safe and sound."

As if karma is on her side, the screws holding the door breaks down, and the creatures managed to bust the door open. They immediately noticed them and starts chasing them.

"Well, you've totally jinxed it. Run!" Rogan told Kate.

"Get to the elevator! I'll buy some time!" Kate replied.

Rogan quickly ran towards the elevator, leaving Kate behind. Kate opened fire to the creatures, attracting their attention. Rogan pressed the button and anxiously waiting for the elevator to arrive.

"Come on... come on..." Rogan repeatedly pressed the button.

Kate continues to shoot at the creatures. She knew she couldn't hold much longer.

"How long, Rogan?!"

Just as Kate asks that question, the elevator arrives. Rogan quickly enters the elevator.

"Kate, run! Now!"

Kate immediately ran towards the elevator. The horde starts chasing her. Kate ran as fast as she could towards the elevator.

"Close the door!" Kate shouts.

"What?! Are you serious?!" Rogan shouted back.

"Just do it when I tell you!" Kate assures Rogan.

Kate continues to run as fast as she could. She took out her pistol and randomly shoots anything behind her, but the horde continues to go after her.

"Now!" Kate yelled.

Rogan pressed the button, and the door begins to close. Kate ran as fast as she could and quickly thrust herself into the elevator as the door closed completely. The creatures tried to get inside the elevator, but the door manages to keep them at bay. Rogan quickly presses the ground floor button, and the elevator begins to move downwards, far away from danger.

Rogan and Kate let out sighs of relief. Kate collapsed on the elevator floor, totally exhausted.

"You're one crazy bastard." Rogan joked.

"Remind me.. to skip leg day next time..." Kate jokingly replied.

"So... As promised. Explain." Rogan told Kate.

"Just-huh... huh.. wait a moment, gimme time to, huh.. rest," Kate told Rogan while out of breath.

The elevator continues to move downwards as the two escaped from harm.

* * *

"So." Kate calmed down and recovered. "What do you want to know first?"

"Well, tell me what the hell we've just fought against. What are they?" Rogan asks.

Kate begins to explain. "That's a new type of mutation the AMS has found out not too long ago. It's called the 'Progressive-Mutation' variant, or the 'P-type' for short, caused by the similarly named 'P-Pathogen'. This thing is far more lethal than the regular virus. Just a small dose of this thing in your blood, and you'll turn within minutes. 3 hours, if you're lucky enough."

Rogan listened to Kate's explanation in horror. "They didn't learn anything from Curien do they?"

"Actually, the pathogen isn't meant to be used as bioweapons... It was meant to be the cure for not only the infection but other diseases as well. It didn't cure anyone though."

"Tell me about it," Rogan told Kate.

Kate took out her PDA and opens the AMS file database. "Do you know the 2004 Manchester Outbreak?"

"2004 Manchester Outbreak?" Rogan said. "Yeah, I know that."

"You know how it went out, right?"

"Some scientists, led by Dr. uh... Anthony Walker, I think, attempts to reverse-engineer the virus, in hopes to find a cure, and for some reason, the virus got leaked, infected one of the researchers and eventually spreads through the populace, and that's the start of the whole outbreak... That's how it went out, right?" Rogan tried to explain. "Pardon me, it's been quite a while."

"Well, you're correct, for the most part. Let me fill in the blanks for you." Kate explains to Rogan. " First, the head scientist is Alexander, not Anthony, and that 'cure' you're talking about? That's the P-Pathogen."

"What?"

"Yeah. The pathogen that causes Valentino to turn into that, is, in fact, a prototype for Dr. Walker's cure. Instead of curing it, it actually makes it worse. You left before the operation began that's why you don't know any of this. We knew all of these thanks to the operation." Kate said.

"Operation?"

"Operation Insight," Kate explains. "It's a top-secret mission commissioned by Director Hopkins, our former AMS Director. It was commenced several months after you left. Its purpose is to investigate abandoned locations that were under suspicion, for a number of reasons. Abnormal power usage, heat signatures, kinds like that. I was part of the operation as one of the team leaders."

"What do you find?"

"A lot." Kate showed one of the mission reports to Rogan. "There's one time when we investigate this abandoned factory in Copenhagen. We found hundreds, if not thousands of tubes filled with the pathogen. They were manufactured, Rogan. Somebody took the original research notes of Dr. Walker, and uses it to reproduce the pathogen."

"What about Dr. Walker? Where is he anyway?"

"Rogan, he's dead. He's one of the casualties of the Manchester Incident."

"My god..." Rogan shakes his head in disbelief.

"We fought one of those who got turned by the pathogen." Kate stopped for a moment, before letting out a big sigh. "...14 of my crew died. We barely make it out alive. I've lost my friends." Kate then shed a small tear. "I've... I've lost my beloved."

"Your beloved..." Rogan muttered.

"Alan Donovan. My... friend. Boyfriend. But... I've moved on anyway... It's been 3 years." Kate said.

"Sorry to hear that," Rogan told Kate as he returned her phone.

"Nah, it's fine. Let the past stay in the past..." Kate cheered up.

Kate continues to explain. "Anyway, we eventually found out that the pathogen is susceptible to fire. In addition, those who were infected by the pathogen cannot spread the infection by bite wounds, scratch wounds, or anything, so no need to worry about it spreading. A common characteristic of those who were infected is being afraid of fire, became delusional, afraid; anything other than being sane. In addition, the infected can retain its physical appearance of its host" Kate added.

"So that's why that thing reverts to Val... Noted." Rogan said.

"Yeah..." Kate agrees.

"So... to kill them we have to shoot them in the head?" Rogan asks.

"Two ways, actually. Shoot the infected in the head, as you said, or burn them alive when weakened. If you killed the infected's body, the host, the pathogen dies as well, as it depends on the host. You kill the host, you kill the virus as well."

Rogan let's out a sigh... "Well, damn... That's a lot of information I've never known before..."

Kate puts her palm unto her head. She looks pretty stressed. "In the end, we burned the building down, and every bottle of that pathogen inside were destroyed in the fire. We also deliberately left the research notes untouched, left it to be burned in the fire, just in case anyone would so something sinister with them... We thought after that we would never face these things again... I thought we're taken care of them. I thought I've taken care of them. Today proves that I've not done with them yet..."

Rogan nods. "Well, at least you know how to beat them."

"Yeah... I guess." Kate reluctantly agrees.

Rogan looks at the elevator. The elevator is currently on floor 3.

"Wow, all that talking and we're not even on the ground floor yet..." Rogan commented.

The two waited silently as the elevator arrives at the ground floor.

* * *

The elevator stops. The door opens. They have arrived at the ground floor. Kate and Rogan get out of the elevator and walks towards the car.

"So, you're getting me out of here?" Kate asks while getting out of the building.

"Yeah. I'll take you to an airport in DC. There are some helicopters parked in the helipad. You can use that to-"

Rogan stopped talking. His attention directs to a Polaroid photograph stuck on the car's windshield.

"What?" Kate asks.

Rogan examines the photo. Kate also looks at the picture by curiosity.

Rogan and Kate look around suspiciously, no one was around.

On the Polaroid, they saw a picture of themselves entering the apartments. Someone has followed and taken a photo of them in secret.

"What the?" Kate said as she looks around again, doing a double-take.

"Yeah. That's us entering the apartment." Rogan told Kate. He looks around as well.

"You think that man in the black hoodie did this?"

"Maybe..." Rogan looks unsure.

Rogan flips the photograph. He found a scribble on the back of the photo.

"You want answers?" Rogan reads it out loud. "Come to La'noire."

"...La'noire" Rogan then wonders. "What is that anyway?"

"How could you don't know that pl-" Kate stops for one second. "This is your first time here, isn't it?"

"Hey, it's not like I went on a vacation after I quit," Rogan responds. "Maybe you know? You've been in here for a while right?"

"La'noire is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city. It's pretty far away from here, about 300 blocks away." Kate explains. "It's uh... um..."

"Um...?"

"It's a fancy restaurant at day, but a bustling club at night. Many people visit this place and dance all night to the same EDM crap they've played over and over. AMS agents who were stationed here used to meet up in this place."

"And do you like the place?"

"Visited once back in 2010. Never came back again ever since." Kate admitted.

"Well, I guess we have to get there," Rogan said.

"I don't like this, Rogan," Kate told him. "It might be a trap."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Rogan said while opened the door for Kate. "Well? Still on board?"

Kate thinks for one second before eventually agrees on Rogan's offer.

"Well, it looks like we're not leaving anytime soon."

"That's the spirit. Hop on." Rogan told Kate.

Rogan shifts the gears. He hits the gas and they drove away from the apartment.

* * *

"What the hell..." Rogan muttered. He slowed down the car and looks outside.

Kate looks outside. She was shocked at the horrifying scene unfolding in front of her.

Not far from them, they saw the body of a soldier, stabbed in the abdomen with a metal bar. Its guts came out, his arms were separated from his body, and his legs were crushed and stuck on a door of a nearby car. Around him is a pile of bodies laying on the street. Some bodies wore civilian clothing while others wore a military outfit similar to the ones worn by the stabbed soldier. Some of the dead bodies had bullet holes in their heads. The place is filled with the distinct rotten smell of blood with flies flying around, hinting that they were dead for quite some time. Empty magazines and bullet shells can be found laying on the ground. It seems that a firefight has happened long before they arrived.

Kate gets out of the car.

"Hey, where are you going?" Rogan asks Kate.

Kate didn't reply.

Kate slowly walked towards the stabbed soldier's body. She seems to recognize the soldier. The stabbed soldier's head suddenly turned around and lets out a hungry growl. He's dead inside, but not physically.

Kate looks at the turned soldier. She looks at his pale face and soon sighed. She realized that it was the same soldier she talked with moments before the outbreak.

Slowly, Kate took out her gun. She reluctantly aims her gun to the soldier's head. She took a breath, looks away, and shoots the soldier in the head, putting him out of misery.

With her eyes closed, she gives the dead soldier one last salute, before walking away.

Rogan watches Kate from afar. He knew he had no right to interrupt.

Kate soon returned to the car.

"Sorry..." Kate told Rogan. "It's um... personal."

"Sorry for the loss," Rogan said. "Friend of yours?"

Kate thought for a while. "...yeah, a friend."

"Ahh... yeah. Sorry to hear."

There was a long silence after that. The dreaded feeling of despair can be felt in the car.

"Shall we?" Rogan breaks the silence.

Kate nods in agreement. Rogan shifts the gears and they soon drove away from the scene.

* * *

"We're here," Rogan told Kate as he stops the car not far from the entrance.

Rogan and Kate exit the car. Kate looks around La'noire. The surrounding area was pretty quiet. Cars were used to barricade the streets. Several dead bodies can be seen on the street.

The La'Noire club is huge. A two-story building with neon light decorated the front side of the building. Loud EDM music can be heard within the building.

From afar, a woman is standing by, looking around. The woman is around Kate's age, around 27 years old. She's Hispanic and has her black curly hair unkempt. She wore a black colored jacket, blue shirt, black colored jeans, and boots.

Kate immediately recognizes the woman.

"... Mikaela?"

The woman looks at Rogan and Kate. "Kate?! The hell!"

Kate approaches Mikaela and the two share a friendly hug. "Oh man, it's been a while!" Mikaela laughed.

"Haha, yeah," Kate replied.

Rogan looks at the two. He looks confused.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Kate said. "Rogan, this is Mikaela Reyes, AMS Tactical Expert. Mikaela, this is-"

"Holy shit, the man himself! It's an honor to meet you in person, Mr. Rogan." Mikaela answered. She seems ecstatic.

"Just call me Rogan." Rogan smiled.

"So!" Mikaela looks at Kate. "What are you doing here?"

"Let me ask you as well, what are you doing here?" Kate replied.

"Well, we were told to be here."

"Told?" Rogan chimes in.

"Yeah," Mikaela told Rogan. She then thinks for a second before looking at Kate. "Wait. Don't tell me you got that too..."

"Huh?" Kate takes out the polaroid picture and shows it to Mikaela. "You got this too?"

Mikaela looks at the picture. "Yeah. We got that too."

Mikaela took out something out from her pocket. She took out a Polaroid picture similar to what Kate and Rogan got.

"What the..." Rogan said.

"Yeah. Someone took our photo in secret." Mikaela said. "I was with Aaron and Tyrone, trying to get out of the country together, after those-"

Suddenly, they heard gunshots, coming from the building.

"What the hell was that?" Kate asks.

"It's gotta be them," Mikaela told Kate. "Aaron and Ty went inside to look around. Told me to stay outside until they came back."

"They're in trouble," Kate told Mikaela. "We gotta hurry."

"Yeah, but do you have a plan?" Mikaela asks Kate.

"How about this. I'll go in front. You two get inside from the back. We'll find out where that gunshot's coming from. Now go!" Rogan told Kate and Mikaela as he ran towards the entrance.

"C' mon!" Kate told Mikaela as she ran to the back alley. Mikaela followed her soon after.

Kate ran towards the back door of the club. Some creatures were at the back alley, wandering aimlessly. Kate took out her gun and opened fire, killing them.

Mikaela took out her gun, a UZI and shoots at the door handle. Kate quickly busts the door open and, with guns drawn out, Kate and Mikaela investigate the room.

The spacious room is filled with crates and shelves filled with empty bottles of wine. Boxes of alcohol drinks were stacked up on the shelves. A large amount of trash-filled plastic bags piled up close to the door. Some of the crates were filled with broken electronic devices. A broken DJ set can be seen on the far end of the room. A set of brooms and mops are also can be seen on the far end of the room. In front of them, a staircase leading to the upper floor can be seen in front of them.

"Hey Mik, go check out that door," Kate told Mikaela.

Mikaela nods in agreement and moves forward. Kate lowers her guard, oblivious of the danger behind her.

Something suddenly grabbed Kate through the shelves. It pulled Kate through the shelve, causing it to fall down and knocking Kate down.

Kate looks around in a daze. She quickly snaps out of confusion when someone pinned her down in a frantic motion. She immediately knew it wasn't Mikaela.

The creature, apparently a janitor infected and turned into one of them, attacked Kate. Kate holds it's neck and tried to push him away. The creature's sheer power slowly overwhelmed her. She begins to lose her strength, as the creature slowly by slowly getting close to her neck.

Suddenly, a shot to the chest distracts the infected janitor. Mikaela shot the janitor from behind, allowing Kate to push away the janitor. Kate pushes away the janitor and moved to safety. Mikaela quickly makes a clear shot to the head, killing him.

"You okay?" Mikaela asks.

"I've been better," Kate complained as she gets up in pain. "Oh, my back."

The door leading to upstairs suddenly burst open, and a creature tried to attack them. Mikaela turns around and shoots the creature in the leg. The creature falls all the way down. Mikaela shoots the creature in the head, killing him before he even gets up.

"Here, I'll help you get up." Mikaela looks at Kate and lends a hand.

Kate took Mikaela's hands and gets up. She picks up her SMG from the floor. "C' mon, let's keep going."

Kate and Mikaela shoot more of the creatures coming from the upper floor. The two climbed up to the upper floor.

Kate looks around at the corridor in front of them. On the left, there are piles of chairs and tables blocking the way, on the right, a bunch of dead people can be seen laying on the floor lifelessly. Some creatures can be seen feasting on the bodies. More EDM music can be heard throughout the building.

"Ugh. More EDM crap..." Kate complained.

Gunshots can be heard again. They're much more audible than before.

"It's close," Mikaela said.

"Yeah," Kate said. "We have to keep moving before-"

Another gunshot can be heard, this time came right within a room next to them.

"C' mon," Kate told Mikaela.

Kate moves to the room right nearby them. Mikaela took a small peak. A large horde of creatures were moving towards Rogan. Rogan can be seen on the balcony shooting at the creatures coming towards him.

"It's Rogan. He needs help. Should we just go and make a distraction?" Mikaela told Kate.

"I don't know... I'm considering other options, but-"

Loud banging noise can be heard from the air ducts above them. One of the air duct lids fell off and a pair of creatures fall from the ducts. They seem genetically engineered, having long claws on their arms. Their behavior is like a monkey, and they somewhat could scale and climb up walls. One of them spotted Kate and Mikaela and rushed towards them.

"Shit. Forget about what I just said. We're going in!" Kate told Mikaela.

The two opened the door and opened fire towards the horde. The creatures were distracted by the gunfire and start chasing them instead. Kate and Mikaela quickly closes the door as soon as they entered the room, temporarily preventing the clawed creatures from getting inside

"Perfect timing." Rogan smiled. Rogan then shoots the creatures trying to climb up the stairs, keeping them at bay. Rogan then shoots the nearby zombies, giving them cover fire. He then opened fire towards the ceiling and kills one of the clawed creatures.

Kate, noticing Rogan's action, begins to shoot the ventilation ducks above her. Blood can be seen dripping from the bullet holes, a sign that she got one. She then shoots a disco ball above them, and it fell towards the unsuspecting creatures, crushing them.

The door behind them burst open, and more creatures coming from the outside. Mikaela opened fire to the creatures, swiftly killing them. She then takes a bottle of wine from a table and uses it as a makeshift knife, killing more of the creatures.

Despite just met for a few hours, Kate, Rogan, and Mikaela showed great teamwork. Soon the creature fell to the floor with bullet wounds all over them. A puddle of blood filled the room.

"Whew." Kate looks around satisfied. "That was a massacre."

Before she could celebrate even longer, more gunshots can be heard. This time it's pretty close to their location.

"No time to celebrate. We've gotta hurry." Rogan told Kate while running towards the next room.

"C' mon now," Mikaela told Kate as she approaches the door leading to the room next to them. Kate agrees.

Mikaela looks through the door. They saw another horde roaming around the dance floor. Rogan already started to shoot at them from above.

Kate took out a grenade from her belt. Mikaela instinctively understands her plan.

Mikaela bust opens the door. Kate quickly tosses the grenade.

"Rogan! Get down!"

Rogan quickly takes cover as the grenade explodes, killing a large number of them. Kate and Mikaela opened fire to the remaining creatures, allowing Rogan to have a clear path to downstairs.

Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela mow down the last of the creatures. The room soon filled with a smell of blood, and fire.

"Kate, you shouldn't waste your grenades," Rogan commented.

"I still have 2 more so we'll be just fine." Kate casually said.

Again, they heard gunshots. The shots can be heard loud and clear. They came from the other side of the room.

"C' mon, we're close!" Mikaela told Kate and Rogan.

The three ran towards outside the room. Kate looks to the left and found the piles of chairs and tables they found earlier. To the right, Rogan saw a corridor leading to a large silver door. Panicked muffled voices can be heard from the door.

"Where the hell is that thing?" Says one man.

"I don't know, man!" Says another man.

"It's them!" Mikaela told Kate and Rogan. We've got to hurry!"

Kate, Rogan, and Mikaela rush towards the room.

* * *

Kate quickly opens the door. Inside, they saw a very large dance floor with LED walls around it, a set of stairs leading towards the balcony, four metal poles on each far end of the rooms, an empty stage placed nearby one of the walls, and party tables covering all of the room. Large distracting laser and strobe lights shine all over the room. Loud EDM music can be heard throughout the room.

In the center of the room, two men side by side looking around the room. Their guns were drawn out.

"Aaron! Ty!" Kate shouts.

"What the? Kate?! What are you doing here?!" Tyrone asks.

Kate quickly runs towards them.

"Kate! Stop right there!" Aaron yelled.

Rogan looks around. He saw something invisible moving quickly on the ceiling. The thing lunges toward Kate.

"Get down!" Rogan quickly runs and pushes Kate down.

Rogan managed to save Kate just in time and narrowly avoids the attack. Aaron, Tyrone, and Mikaela quickly opened fire to the invisible thing. The creature jumps around the poles, lands on the stage and reveals itself: a grotesque humanoid woman creature, mutated so far it has a body like similar to a spider and a scorpion. It has sharp legs growing on its body, with large claws growing on one of its pairs, and has abnormally long teeth. She has a tail growing on her abdomen that somehow resembles a snake, with eyes and fangs on them.

"I think the snake is a parasite, while that other thing is the host," Rogan commented.

Kate, amidst the confusion, takes out her PDA and do a scan. The creature is identified as Type P-0625, codenamed "Chamuzel".

Rogan takes a look at Kate's PDA. Her weak point is identified as the snake itself.

"I knew it!" Rogan said. He then lends Kate a hand. "C' mon, get up!"

Kate quickly gets up and the two together draw out their guns. The two quickly regroup with Mikaela and the others, putting their backs against each other.

"Hey kid," Rogan told Aaron. "You had quite a party right there. Got room for more?"

"Sure, welcome onboard. We're just getting started." Aaron replied sarcastically.

The creature lets out an ear-piercing screech, distracting the team. They look at the stage, and the creature is gone.

"Where is it?" Kate asks.

"That thing has a skin like a chameleon," Tyrone replied. "It can move around pretty easily and nobody's gonna notice. LED panels, laser lights... This is a playground."

"Crap... So it IS a trap." Kate commented.

"Yeah. Whoever sent us here wants us dead." Aaron replied to Kate, before realizing something. "Wait, how do you know we're here?"

"The same thing as you guys." Rogan simply told Aaron.

"Oh, you got a picture too? Glad to know we're not the only one." Tyrone chimes in.

The creature suddenly reveals itself and lunges towards Mikaela.

"Shit!" Mikaela panicked and opened fire.

Kate quickly came to her aid and attacked the creature. Their combined shots hit the creature, temporarily stunning it.

"Guys, take it down! Now!" Kate yelled at Rogan and the others.

"Roger that," Aaron replied. Rogan, Tyrone, and Aaron opened fire to the creature's 'tail. Chamuzel quickly recovered and climbs the ceiling. Aaron and Tyrone attempt to shoot her but missed. The nimble creature quickly moves from pole to pole, seemingly looking for new prey. The creature suddenly lunges again, this time towards Rogan.

"Rog!" Kate yelled.

Rogan quickly raises his shotgun to protect himself as Arachne pinned him down with its claws. Kate and Mikaela quickly fired towards the creature, distracting it and saving Rogan's life. The creature then moves towards Kate and Mikaela and left Rogan alone.

"C' mon man!" Tyrone quickly came to Rogan's aid. Rogan quickly gets up and gets away to safety.

While Tyrone helps Rogan back on his feet. Kate and Mikaela distract the creature. The two climbed the floors and gets to the balcony. The creature climbed the ceiling and attempts to attack them. Kate fired towards the creature to the head, but its claw protects it. Aaron fired towards the creature from below, distracting it. During this time, Kate and Mikaela quickly fired to its 'tail', hurting the creature again and temporarily stunning her. She fell from the ceiling and fell to the floor, but quick to recover. The creature tried to use bite the guys, but they manage to avoid it. Kate and Mikaela shoot the creature from above, distracting it. Aaron quickly gets close and stabs the creature in the tail. The creature roared in pain, clearly annoyed.

The creature soon gets up and once again roared. Its ear-piercing scream distracts the team again.

"Anyone has earmuffs? I'm getting annoyed." Tyrone complained.

The creature suddenly climbs the ceiling again and fires web-like projectiles to Kate and Mikaela. The two quickly dodges it as the projectile hits the sofas. Kate looks back at the sofa and found out that the sofa melts.

"Guys! The web is corrosive!" Kate told the guys downstairs.

The creature starts to fire the projectiles to Rogan, Aaron, and Tyrone as well. Hearing Kate's advice, the three quickly dodges it. Tyrone was a bit late and the projectile slightly hits him.

"Ty! You okay?!" Aaron yelled.

"I'm fine," Tyrone replied before looks at his jacket. "Ahhh, damn it."

"What?" Rogan asks.

"That thing put a hole on my Versace!" Tyrone said. He looks pissed.

"Now's not the time to think about your jacket!" Aaron yelled.

"Here comes another one. Run!" Rogan yelled.

The creature jumps towards a pole and fired more corrosive webs towards the team. Rogan, Tyrone, and Aaron ran and hide behind the tables while Kate and Mikaela knocked down a table and hide behind it. The webs hit many tables, poles, and railings, slowly melting them into liquid. Tyrone takes out his pistol and tried to shoot the creature, but one of the webs hits the pistol, damaging it. Tyrone was forced to let go of the gun and watch it melts to liquid metal.

"Oh come on!" Tyrone complained. "First you put a hole on my jacket, now you have to take away my gun too?!"

"Well. I guess it has a thing on you. As expected from the 'Agency's Hottest Demolition-man.'" Aaron said jokingly.

"Shut up man. Not funny."

Rogan looks up and saw Mikaela and Kate trying to shoot the creature behind an already half-destroyed table. "Hey! Any ideas to beat this thing?"

"No, we don't!" Mikaela yelled. She tried to fire towards the creature but the corrosive webs kept her from getting out of cover. The webs once again hit the table and melt off a large portion of it. Mikaela tried to crawl to a new table, but a web hits the railings just nearby her leg, preventing her from getting out safely.

"Shit!" Mikaela yelled.

"Ah... Screw this!" Kate yelled. She takes out her gun, gets out of cover and ran towards another table. The creature tried to shoot her with the webs but Kate managed to get away unscathed. She takes down a table and lifts it up like a makeshift shield.

"Mikaela, open fire when I tell you! It doesn't have to hit, just shoot." Kate told Mikaela as she went downstairs. Mikaela nods as she reloads her gun. Kate uses the table to protect her while she gets downstairs. Kate manages to arrive downstairs and quickly ditches the table as it completely melts. She quickly crawled towards a new table close to the creature and hide. The creature jumps down the pole and camouflages, as it tries to find Kate.

Rogan looks at Kate, realizing that she had made a plan. "What are you doing, Kate?!" Rogan asks.

"Don't worry! I'll do the dirty work!" Kate replied. She then signals Mikaela to open fire. "Go!"

Mikaela opened fire randomly towards downstairs, distracting the creature. The creature gets attracted by the noise, and slowly unveiling itself. As the creature diverts its attention towards Mikaela, Kate slowly walks towards the creature from behind, then begins to run and slides underneath. Kate fires her pistol directly towards its chest. The attack hurting the creature so badly, and once again stunned it. Kate gets up, climbs up to its body, took out a grenade and shoves it to the mouth of the snake-like parasite that forms its tail.

"Chew on this," Kate told the creature as she pulls the pin.

"Get down!" Kate told the others as she tried to escape from the blast.

The grenade explodes, hurting the creature very badly. The force of the explosion completely decimates the room. The LED panels got broken, and the laser light projector got damaged by the blast. Kate, who was the closest to the explosion, got caught in the blast and got knocked down. Her ears ringing so badly.

"Kate! You're okay?" Rogan quickly gets up and came to her side.

"Other than my ear. I'm fine." Kate replied.

Kate quickly gets up. The others also get up, slightly confused by the ensuing confusion. The injured creature roared. The blast made a large scar on its back. Blood spewing out everywhere. The creature morphs back to a young woman, around 34 years of age. Her clothing is torn badly, leaving only her skirt and what remains of her blouse. Her body is covered with blood. Her skin looks inhumanely pale, and her body and legs were badly injured and burned. Her mouth is horrifically disfigured.

The woman cried in pain. She crawled towards Kate and the others. She uttered words that are barely recognizable.

"lo... ii... ee... roiieecee..." The woman said. She then begins to vomit blood. Her body begins to react violently. Kate quickly approaches the girl, slowly close her eyes, and shoots her in the head with the pistol, killing her before she turned back. Kate shoots her body a couple more times for good measure.

"There. I saved you." Kate said to her lifeless body. She then closes the woman's dead eyes.

"Let's get out of here. I'm sick of this place." Kate then said to the others.

Kate walks away from the room. Rogan and the others soon followed.

* * *

"Nice to meet you, Sir," Aaron said to Rogan while heading out.

"Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you too, kid." Rogan said. " What's your name kid?"

"Aaron Silverman. AMS Long-Range Combat Specialist." Aaron said.

"And your friend there with the Versace?"

"Tyrone Bishop, AMS Firearms and Demolition Expert, and a fashionista."

"Don't call me that. I'm an enthusiast. There's a difference between them both."

"Whatever you say." Aaron smiled. "But still, mad because a creature put a hole to your jacket? Really?"

"Versace's ain't cheap you know?" Tyrone complains. "You really should go buy some clothes and you'll understand how I feel."

"Oh come on, at that situation, I wouldn't mind my jacket to get a hole or two," Aaron adds.

"Yeah?" Tyrone took out his pistol. "How about I made a hole to your jacket now? How about that?"

"Oh come on! Don't take it seriously, man!"

Kate smiled as the two bickers around.

"They seemed nice." Rogan comments on their bickering.

Kate chuckled as they exit the building.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3 - DOWNFALL**

* * *

 _ **April 5, 2007**_

 _ **AMS Headquarters**_

 _ **Washington, DC.**_

"Uhh, Mr. Hopkins? Can I have a word with you?" A man speaks behind the glass door.

"Ah... Rogan. Yeah, sure do. Come in." the man said.

Rogan gets inside Hopkins' office. His office is a pretty spacious room, with a desk with a built-in computer, sofas, a small coffee table, a TV, and a cabinet filled with photographs of past AMS directors, trophies, and framed certificates.

Rogan looks at Hopkins. The 56-year-old Welsh-born AMS Director has his whitish black hair neatly combed to the left. He wore a dark blue suit, a white shirt, a blue tie, and black business shoes.

"How do I look, Rogan?" Hopkins asks. His voice is deep and serious, yet so friendly and comforting.

"You look very good, sir," Rogan commented. "I mean very good."

"Haha, thanks." Hopkins smiled. "I just bought this for my niece's wedding next week. Might as well try it out today.

"You sure look good, sir." Rogan smiled.

"Don't just stand there you." Hopkins jokingly scolds Rogan while pointing down the sofa. "Hurry up, sit down. A young man like you surely didn't like standing up for a long time, haha."

Rogan sits on the sofa, Hopkins soon followed.

"So, anyway. What's wrong, Rogan?" Hopkins suddenly asks Rogan. "You looked pretty nervous and stressed out these days."

Rogan takes out a letter from his coat. "Here."

Hopkins takes the letter and opens it. He reads the letter extensively. His face slowly says it all: a mix of confusion and shock.

"This is..."

"Yeah." Rogan acknowledged. "I'm writing a resignation letter to you. I'm sorry if this is way too sudden, but I think it's time for me to leave."

Hopkins looks at the letter in confusion. "Why now, Rogan? I mean, yeah you had a wife and a daughter like I have, but..."

Rogan lets out a big sigh. "Sorry, boss. I've been considering this for a long time. I do think that now, the time is right."

Hopkins gets up from the sofa and looks at the window. His coughs for a while before telling something to Rogan. "Other than G, you're one of the best agents we've ever had. You saw how it began first hand. You know them more than anyone in this building, including me. And now here you are, in my office, wanting to leave..."

Hopkins adds. "You never complained about your monthly salary. You never complained about the tasks at hand. You never complained about anything. So, why now, all of a sudden?"

Rogan can't even reply. He knew deep down that the AMS still needs him. He knew from the bottom of his heart that he wanted to stay. But he has other plans to do, far more important than anything else.

"It's um... Personal, sir." Rogan answers. "I didn't want to talk about it, really, but for years, I've struggled to balance my work with some quality time with my family. Sophie repeatedly asks me if I can stay at home for a week or two, while Lisa continuously asking her 'when Daddy would come home'. This is the struggle I must carry, and that's why... Today is the right time for me to leave. I need to go home, have some time with my family and take a break. They've been waiting for the day I would come home, and for damn sure now is the time. I cared for my family more than anything else... So please... please understand."

Hopkins thinks for a second. He then smiles in understanding.

"And when will you come back if I may ask?" Hopkins asks.

"I don't know," Rogan admitted. "I haven't thought much about returning after the break. Probably never, I'm afraid..."

There's a bit of silence afterward. Hopkins soon breaks the silence.

"12 years..." Hopkins said. "That's twice as long as a normal agent's service. I guess all the work these years made you homesick... Very well."

Hopkins then lets out a huge sigh. "Your badge, your gun, and your PDA. Put it on my desk."

Rogan slowly took out his badge, his trusty Desert Eagle, and his black colored PDA and puts them on Hopkins' desk.

"Starting tomorrow, you are no longer an AMS agent, but a regular citizen..." Hopkins spoke. "I will formally announce your leave very soon."

Rogan closes his eyes as he saw his badge, gun, and PDA took away by Hopkins' assistants. He slightly regretted his decision, but he knew well that this day will happen sooner or later.

"So, you're free. You're good to go now..." Hopkins' told Rogan.

"Thank you, sir," Rogan said. "Now, I must leave..."

"Before you go." Hopkins suddenly told Rogan. "Allow me to give you something."

Hopkins took something out from his desk. He gives Rogan a red card.

"This is an AMS Honorary Member keycard," Hopkins explains. "Only a handful of people receive this card, and I believe you deserve one."

Hopkins puts the card unto Rogan's hands.

"This card will grant access to any AMS security, with a few exceptions of course." Hopkins continued to explain. "So, if you want to take a visit, looking around and hanging out with us someday, just bring this card."

"Thank you, sir." Rogan smiled.

The two then share a friendly hug. "Oh, young man. I'm going to miss you. Good luck with your future endeavors." Hopkins said.

"Technically, I'm old, but yeah, I'm gonna miss this place," Rogan replied.

"Farewell, Rogan. Thank you for everything."

"Farewell, sir," Rogan said.

The two then shake their hands and bid their farewells. Rogan slowly walks away from the director's room, back to his office.

As Rogan walks back to his office. Someone called him from behind.

"Hey, Rogan!"

Rogan looks behind and saw AMS Chief of Counterintelligence Division Andrew Schaeffer calling out his name. The 31-year-old man is wearing a black suit, a grey shirt, tinted glasses, and black shoes.

"Hey, Schaeffer. How's your day?" Rogan asks.

"Very well. I just got something on the recent Monte Carlo outbreak. I'm about to report to the boss now. How about you?"

"Fairly good. I think." Rogan simply said. "How's your sister?"

"She's feeling better now. She's allowed to check out next month so, yeah she's pretty lucky." Schaeffer smiled. "I mean, it all thanks to you, Rogan. If you didn't lend a hand and drive her to the hospital. Well, I won't be here for long..."

Rogan chuckled. "I'm just doing what I should do, that's all."

"Anyway, where are you going? You seem in a hurry."

Rogan thinks for a second, before replying to Schaeffer. "Going home. Gonna pack some of my stuff before I went home."

"Ah. I see. Wanna let me help you pack your stuff?" Schaeffer asks.

"No no no, I'll be fine on my own. In the meantime, you better do your job well."

"Haha, alright then. Well, I'll be on my way then. See you tomorrow." Schaeffer said.

Rogan smiled for a bit. "Yeah. See you tomorrow."

Schaeffer then walks away from Rogan. Rogan looks at Schaeffer from the distance. His smile is gone. Rogan then walks to his office.

Rogan's office is a small but comfortable room. Inside, there's a desk with a built-in computer, a resting chair on the side, a file locker nearby the chair, and a large carpet in the middle of the room.

Rogan sits on the chair for some time, before an assistant gets into his room, carrying empty boxes for him to use. He put the boxes right next to his desk. The assistant gave him a salute before leaving.

Rogan looks at the side of the desk, the empty boxes are waiting for him. Rogan let's out a sigh and starts packing his stuff from the room.

* * *

 ** _April 6, 2007_**

Rogan took out the last of his belongings and brings them to his car.

Rogan has almost stuffed all his belongings inside his car when a familiar voice shouted. "Hey, Rogan!"

Rogan looks around, and saw G, standing in the distance.

"You're leaving now?" G asks.

"Yeah," Rogan said. "Today is the day."

"Can't believe you're leaving." G told Rogan while voluntarily helping him carry his stuff. "I thought you were joking back then."

"Huh. I'm not, G." Rogan assures him.

"Yeah. Then again, you're a stubborn one. Once you set your path, there's no turning back." G jokingly replied.

G helps Rogan carry some of his stuff and puts it onto the trunk.

"So, this is it. Our last day together." Rogan said while placing the last of his belongings to the trunk.

G's tone becomes more serious. "You're going after this "Cobalt", right?"

"Yeah." Rogan quietly said. "With all the rules and regulations the AMS has set up. I can't get enough info. If I want to get him, I'll have to play dirty."

"Y'know, I'm not really on board to this plan of yours." G said. "I still think you're bluffing y' know? I still do believe that this "Cobalt" you're talking about doesn't exist. You're about to chase after someone you don't even know if it exists, plus you're putting my 10-plus-years career over the edge here. If the director knows I'm feeding classified AMS information to you, a 'civilian'... Well, you know how I'll end up next."

"Desperate times, desperate measures," Rogan said. "He's behind this. I'm very sure of this. If I had the chance to expose him, even if I had to break the law to do so, then I'll gladly take that chance."

G sighs and lets out a smile. "Ahh... I knew you would answer something like this. Persistent bastard. Alright, I can't force you anyway."

Rogan slams the trunk lid. "And I know you wouldn't mind helping me either."

The two stared each other intensively before bursting into laughter. The two then made a friendly hug.

"Oh, I'm gonna miss you, buddy," Rogan exclaims.

"Well, I'm not gonna miss you honestly." G jokingly said.

"Well, it's time for me to leave," Rogan said.

"Goodbye, Rog. Be careful, and good luck." G told Rogan.

Rogan then let's go of G and enters his car. He turns on the car, switches the gears and slowly drives off. Rogan looks out of the window and wave G farewell. G, jokingly gives the middle finger to him, before waving back.

Rogan, slightly shocked by G's surprising response, shakes his head and chuckles. Rogan then hits the gas and drives further from the AMS Headquarters.

Rogan stopped the car for a moment and makes a last glance to the headquarters.

"Man, I'm going to miss this place," Rogan said to himself.

He makes a smile before continues to drive away.

* * *

 _ **March 12, 2011**_

 _ **18:01**_

Rogan, Kate and the team exits La'noire. The team looks around. No one seems to around other than a couple of dead bodies on the streets.

Rogan picks up the pace and quickly runs to the car. Rogan opens his car doors when he hears a small sound of a pin pulling. He looks down as two grenades rolled down and stop nearby him.

"GRENADE!" Rogan yelled. He quickly runs towards Kate, the second closest to the car and knocks her down.

The grenades explode, creating a combination of blinding light, distracting noise, and a large explosion that affects everyone in the area.

"I can't see shit!" Aaron yelled.

"Everyone OK?!" Mikaela yelled as well.

beneath the noise, the light, and the confusion, a struggle can be heard.

"I can't see... Who the- What the hell?! Let me go!"

After a while, the team slowly recovers from the explosion. Kate wakes up. She still can hear the distracting noise ringing in her ears but she managed to stand up and recover.

"Argh... Again?!" Kate complained.

She then saw Rogan right on top of her body, unconscious. Her eyes quickly widen from the shock.

"Rogan!" Kate yelled. "Rogan, wake up!"

Kate immediately wakes up and tried to do CPR to Rogan. Rogan then wakes up, coughs a bit, and regains consciousness.

"Ahh..." Rogan yelled in pain as he takes out shrapnel from his chest and cleaning his shirt from the dust. "What the hell was that?"

Mikaela, recovered from the blast, looks around aimlessly before noticing something. "Uhh... Shit."

Rogan looks around for a while, before looking at his car. At least, what remains of it.

"My... My car!" Rogan yelled angrily as he saw his car in flames.

"Who the hell did this?" Kate looks at the burning car.

Aaron recovers and tried to get up, but immediately fell again. Mikaela immediately came to his aid and help him get back up.

"Hey, you okay?" Mikaela asks Aaron.

"Yeah... I'm fine." Aaron said and smiled.

Mikaela then noticed someone is missing. "Wait, where's Ty?" Mikaela asks everyone.

The group looked around the area. Tyrone is nowhere to be found.

"Ty?!" Aaron yelled. "Where are you buddy?!"

"Could he's the one doing this to us?" Rogan asks.

"Impossible. I knew him long before we joined the AMS. I knew him more than anyone." Aaron replied. "He didn't do this, trust me. Betraying is not his style."

The group looks around for quite some time in confusion, before a black sedan, parked not far from their location, suddenly moves and drives away at high speed.

"HEY!" Rogan attempts to stop the car by shooting it with his shotgun.

Aaron quickly gets up, grabs his gun and started shooting as well. No dice. The sedan drives away, leaving them behind.

"Dammit." Aaron cussed.

"It's gotta be that guy," Rogan said.

"Him?" Aaron asks.

"Yeah," Rogan explains. "He's the one who brought me into this mess in the first place. He killed my source. I suspect him to be the one sending the picture, and now he's here, mocking us in our faces!"

Suddenly, Kate's PDA rang. Kate checks her PDA and found out that she has received a message from Tyrone's number. Kate reads the message. It was written in all caps. A simple yet effective message that gives her chills.

 **"ALL PLAYERS HAVE GATHERED. LET US START THE GAME.**

 **I HAVE TYRONE BISHOP WITH ME.**

 **YOU WANT TO SAVE HIM, COME TO POINT E0036 BEFORE 22:00.**

 **YOU MUST NOT USE ANY FORM OF VEHICLES.**

 **VIOLATION OF THIS RULE WILL RESULT IN A SEVERE PUNISHMENT.**

 **I HAVE PREPARED A SURPRISE FOR YOU LATER DURING YOUR JOURNEY, FOR MOTIVATIONAL PURPOSES.**

 **GAME STARTS NOW."**

"The hell?" Kate said.

Mikaela's and Aaron's PDA began to ring as well. They've read the message as well.

"What is this?" Aaron asks.

"Wait, you got this message too?" Kate asks Aaron while showing her message.

"Same message huh?" Aaron said. He showed his PDA to Kate, displaying the same message.

"Same here." Mikaela chimes in. "What the hell's going on here?"

Rogan takes a look at the message. "This gotta be him. I'm sure of it."

"What are we going to do now?" Mikaela asks.

"Or a better question, can we trust this message?" Rogan chimes in. "What if this message is a lie? What if he sent this so we fell into his trap. Again?"

"Well, your car is gone..." Aaron said. "And my friend's missing, so..."

Kate types in the point given to them on the GPS. Kate looks at the result in awe. "Guys, you're not gonna believe where this guy wants us to go."

Kate showed the GPS results to the group. They all respond with a resounding "What?"

"You're serious?" Mikaela asks.

"Yeah," Kate replies. "This guy wants us to go to a warehouse, in a shipyard, 20 miles away from here, without a car."

Mikaela sighed. "And all this shit happened within 10 minutes. What a day."

"C' mon, we can bend the rules a bit, right?" Aaron says while walking towards a red truck parked nearby.

As soon as Aaron gets close to the truck, a beeping sound came from the truck. The truck then explodes. Aaron fell and knocked back by the explosion.

"Aaron!" Mikaela runs towards him.

Aaron looks around in confusion, before looking at the now destroyed truck in confusion. "What the hell just happened?."

"He's not playing around," Kate told everyone. "This guy wants us to walk 20 miles to save Ty."

"So, what are we going to do now?" Mikaela asks. "I don't want to say this but..."

"You want to leave Tyrone behind?" Aaron told Mikaela. "You're crazy! We can't just leave him like that!"

"But we don't know what happened to him at all," Rogan told Aaron. "I hate making assumptions, but-"

"You thought that he's dead, right? Or worse, assuming that he's 'him', right?! That's some huge accusations right there!" Aaron gets angry and grabs Rogan by the collar.

"Hey hey hey! Stop it." Mikaela tried to calm Aaron down.

"Hey, I'm just giving my two cents, so calm down!" Rogan told Aaron.

"Listen to me, I'm not going to leave my friend behind. Never." Aaron assures Rogan.

Kate stepped in and tries to separate them both. "Aaron! Calm the hell down! Do you realize who you're talking to?"

Aaron ultimately lets go of Rogan and walks away from the group. Mikaela came to his aid and tried to calm him down.

Rogan looks at Aaron and lets out a sigh. Kate noticed it and looks at Rogan.

"Rogan, why the hell you said that?" Kate whispered.

"As I said, I'm giving assumptions." Rogan boldly told Kate. "But honestly, I think we have another problem to deal with." Rogan then looks at Aaron. "That kid. Something is wrong with him..."

Kate looks at Aaron and explains to Rogan. "He has issues regarding anger management. If someone said something he didn't like to hear... Well... You get the idea. He's just pissed that his friend got kidnapped, that's all. No hard feelings, alright?"

Rogan nods in understanding. Kate leaves Rogan alone and came to Aaron's side. "You okay, buddy?"

"Urgh..." Aaron shakes his head. "I'm fine. I'm just... You know me. Anger issues."

"You've gotta calm down and listen before going mad," Mikaela told Aaron.

"Yeah," Kate nods in agreement. "You might have just lost his trust, y' know?"

"Yeah." Aaron agreed. "I feel bad yelling in front of him. It makes me like a spoiled brat."

"Well, you better apologize, one way or another," Mikaela advises Aaron. Aaron agreed with a simple nod.

"Hey, we gotta keep moving." Rogan suddenly interrupts. "If we want to save your friend here, we better got to keep moving."

Rogan then points out at something at the distance. The group soon saw swarms of creatures, attracted by the loud explosions that happened earlier, getting towards them. In front of them, another swarm of creatures also closing in on them.

"Right." Kate agrees. "We only have 4 hours to save Tyrone. Better not waste any more time."

"Let's go then," Mikaela told the group.

The team agrees in unison and begins to run.

* * *

6 miles.

Rogan, Kate, Mikaela, and Aaron have been running for 6 miles. They did stop for a while to clear the path from the creatures, but most of the time, they've been running non-stop.

An exhausted Mikaela told Kate while pointing at a place. "Hey, Kate? Let's take a break for a while at that convenience store."

Kate looks at the convenience store Mikaela point out. It doesn't seem like the place was overrun by the creatures.

Kate, exhausted, looked at Rogan and Aaron. They both also look tired. "Well? Wanna take a break?"

Rogan looks at his watch. They did have 14 more miles to go but looking at the time, it seems like they had more than enough time for a 20-minute break.

"Alright. Let's take a break there." Rogan replied.

The team runs across the street. They suddenly heard gunshots coming from inside the store, followed by a scream full of rage. Two more gunshots can be heard again, and the screaming suddenly stopped. The team immediately became cautious.

"What was that?" Kate asks.

"C' mon," Rogan told the team.

The team walks carefully and enters the store. The store itself is fairly tidy, a surprise considering the city is in ruins. Shelves of snacks were sorted nicely. Bottles of drinks were sorted on the refrigerator. Lunchboxes can be seen on the top of the microwave nearby the cashier, ready to be reheated. A hot dog station can be also seen on the far back of the store. On the far right, they can see a small door leading towards the storage room. However, the place is covered in bloody footsteps and refrigerator doors were covered in blood splatters. A slightly unappealing look to an otherwise nice looking store.

Kate looks at the cashier counter. She saw a dead body. His body is pale, with a bite mark on his arm. There's a bullet mark on his head. Kate assumes that somebody had come earlier and shot the cashier when he turned.

"Well?" Aaron asks.

"A dead body." Kate lowers her gun. "He's dead for good, so I guess we have nothing to worry about," Kate told the team.

Aaron sighed. "Good. I guess we could stay here for a while."

Mikaela, while unsure about it, eventually took one of the lunchboxes and puts it into the microwave.

"Hey, heat one for me too," Kate asks Mikaela as she took a lunchbox and threw it towards her. Mikaela catches the lunchbox and puts it into the microwave.

Rogan took one of the drinks on the refrigerator and sits on a chair. He looks suspiciously at the door on the far right of the store while drinking. Rogan gets up from his seat, puts his water on the floor, readies his shotgun and heads to the door.

The microwave rings and Mikaela takes out the lunchboxes to a nearby table. Kate and Mikaels sit there and enjoying their meal. Meanwhile, Aaron gets to a hot dog stand and prepared himself one. Kate saw Rogan heading towards the backdoor. She quickly takes a bite before readying her SMG and walks towards the backdoor.

Rogan slowly opens the door, only to be greeted by a gun in his head.

"Don't move." The man whispered as he came out from the shadows. Some of his accomplices also came out of the cover with various weapons on their hands.

"Okay, okay, okay." Rogan complies with the man's demands. He lowers down his shotgun.

"You too, girl." The other man said to Kate, who was nearby. Mikaela and Aaron heard it and silently preparing themselves. It seems that the two hostiles didn't notice them, who was nearby.

"Fine," Kate said to the man. She drops her gun and raises her hands. She gives a signal towards Mikaela and Aaron to hide behind the cashier. She slowly walked backward and taking the men outside their hiding spots.

One of the guys noticed the badge Kate wore on her belt. "What's the bounty again guys?" He asked his fellow members.

"That bounty? $500.000 for each AMS agent," One of them said.

"Seems like we got two... So that's $250K for every one of us!"

"Fuck me." He laughed. "We're going to be rich!"

"One of the hostiles, noticeably more fat than the others, approaches the hot dog stand nearby the cashier. Aaron looks at Mikaela, which she replied with a worried face. Aaron peeks out of the cashier desk and notices that the hostiles have yet to notice them. Aaron looks at Mikaela and nods. They get out of cover and opened fire, injuring the fat hostile on the leg. The hostiles are flabbergasted by the surprise attack and start opened fire to them as well.

During the chaos, Rogan and Kate fight back and attack their captors. They take back their guns before running to the other side of the shelf and take cover. Meanwhile, the hostiles fall back to their hiding spots and fired back. Everything then turned into chaos and the store became a battleground.

The two opposing forces exchange fire. Aaron got shot in the arm, but he scuffs it off and injures one of the hostiles. Rogan and Kate opened fire towards the hostiles, taking down one of them. Kate gets closer to the door and ambushes one of the hostiles. Rogan then enters the room and quickly takes cover as the hostile fires randomly at them. Kate uses one of the hostiles as a shield and protects herself from the gunfire, killing him. As the last hostile ran out of bullets, Rogan quickly takes the chance and fired multiple shots to the enemy, injuring him badly in the arm and leg. The hostile tries to crawl away, but Rogan catches up to him and puts his foot on his chest. Soon after, Kate joins him.

"Who sent you?" Rogan asked. "Tell me."

The man mumbles barely audible words. He then succumbed to his injuries. A blood puddle slowly forms around him. Rogan lets out a sigh.

"Well, we'll never know," Kate said in a disappointing tone.

Rogan and Kate get out of the room. They check on Mikaela and Aaron, who seemed fine after the shootout. Kate noticed bandages wrapped around his arm. Bloodstains coming out from the bandage.

"You got hit. Are you okay?" Kate asks Aaron.

Aaron tightens up the bandage knot on his arm. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Rogan looks at the street. "We have bigger problems to deal with."

Across the store, a group of creatures begins to walk towards them. The gunfire attracted the horde.

"Aw man, we haven't finished our meal..." Kate complained.

"Well, between getting eaten alive or starve to death, I'd rather choose to starve," Mikaela commented.

Rogan looks at his watch. "We got no time to waste either. Let's get out of here."

The team agreed and left the store. Meanwhile, the remaining hostiles who were injured groaned in pain.

"Please..." One of them begged the team. "At least let us die quickly."

Rogan thought about it for one moment before turning back and said to the man. "You did this by yourself. Now, you take the consequences." Rogan then takes nearby guns and gives it to him and the remaining others.

"Use them well. You'll need it." Rogan said. "Good luck."

The creatures, attracted by the sounds, starts to come after them. Kate and Rogan quickly cleared up the path for the team, killing some of the creatures. With the path cleared up, the team begins to run, occasionally turned back and fired whoever close to them. The team stopped for one moment and looks back at the store. Some of the creatures entered the store, coming to feast upon the attackers, while others continue to chase after them mindlessly. Gunshots can be heard from inside the store, possibly from the attackers who survived the gunfight. They couldn't tell if they shoot the creatures, or just shoot themselves in the head.

The team looks at each other. They agreed to move on and they began to run again.

* * *

Rogan, Kate, Aaron, and Mikaela continues to run. They still have around 10 miles to go.

"Dammit," Rogan said.

A roadblock blocks their way ahead. Kate looks at the GPS and saw an alternate route.

"Hey, I found a route here. We have to circle around the storage facility in front of us." Kate told the group.

"Yeah. Let's keep going then." Aaron agrees.

"Be careful, there are lots of cars lying around. They might be rigged." Mikaela adds.

"Roger that." Kate agrees.

The three moves carefully on the sidewalk. They tried to move carefully to not triggering any bombs that might be hidden in the cars. On their right, they saw the storage facility, seemingly abandoned. Creatures are roaming inside the area, wandering aimlessly. They seemed to not notice them passing by.

"So far so good..." Mikaela commented.

"Yeah," Kate replied. "I hope we'll be able to get through this without-"

Either it's from bad timing or simply god laughing in their faces, one of the creatures noticed them and yelled. The other creatures noticed them and tried to grab them. The fence beside them managed to hold them off, but the sheer force of the creatures pushing forward slowly bent the fence.

"You jinxed it! Again!" Rogan said.

Kate lets out a sigh of disbelief at the situation. Even she knew that this is getting ridiculous.

"You go first, I'll take care of this," Kate said.

Rogan and Mikaela quickly get away to safety while Kate and Aaron stayed behind to shoot at the creatures. The fence fell and the creatures start coming towards them. Kate and Aaron opened fire to the creatures, but it isn't enough to get rid of them. The two began to retreat to safety. Along the way, more creatures coming towards them from the left. Aaron quickly fired shots to the creatures closest to them. One of the creatures get too close to Kate and tripped her over. Kate kills the creature and tries to get up. However, as she gets up, a loud beep can be heard inside the car beside her.

"What did you do?!" Aaron asked.

"Oh, shit..." Kate swore as she realized what would occur next. The beeping is getting faster and louder.

"RUN!" Kate screamed as she quickly gets up and runs. The car explodes, triggering more car bombs surrounding it. Kate and Aaron quickly ran through the sidewalk as cars explode behind them. Rogan and Mikaela saw the explosion behind them and begins to run.

"OH COME ON!" Mikaela complained.

"Kate, you're a damn jinx!" Rogan yelled

The explosion wiped out a lot of the creatures and decimating a whole street filled with wrecked cars. Rogan, Kate, Aaron, and Mikaela continues to run. Kate looks behind and saw the explosion chain is heading towards a wrecked fuel tanker right in the center of the street, just a few meters away from them.

"Tank!" Kate yelled.

Rogan, Kate, Aaron, and Mikaela ran as fast as they could to avoid the blast. They arrived at the intersection in front of them. The tanker explodes, creating a large fiery explosion. The blast knocked down everyone. Large amounts of dust and debris created by the blast made them struggle to breathe. Rogan and Aaron got up and helped Kate and Mikaela get up. They looked upon the fiery remains of that street. They could feel the immense heat created by that explosion.

Rogan lets out a sigh. "Kate, you've made one hell of a mess."

"I get it. You don't have to rub it all over my face." Kate genuinely felt irritated.

Aaron looks around the area. "So, which way should we go next?" Aaron asks the group. "I need... to take a break.

Mikaela checks her PDA. She points her finger to the right, towards an unsuspecting horde of creatures. "We have to go right there, but they're everywhere. We can't go this way"

"Damn..." Rogan cursed. "Is there any other way around?"

"I think there's one," Mikaela explains. "We have to go to the left and then turn right towards-"

A sudden ground shake interrupts Mikaela's explanation. The ground shakes even more over time, so much that one could consider an earthquake.

"What the hell is that?" Mikaela asks.

"I have no idea," Kate said as she looked around.

"Guys?" Aaron said as he points to their right. They felt the shaking came from that direction. The shaking became bigger, louder, and closer.

Suddenly, one of the warehouses on their right collapses and they saw the monstrosity that caused the quake: A huge, 20 feet creature standing in their way. A horrifying combination of a gorilla's arms and legs, a rhino's horn, a pig's body, and face, and spikes protruding from its back.

Mikaela takes a quick scan. The creature is identified as Type P-2302, codenamed "Gabrizel". Its weak points are identified as the unprotected parts on its knees.

The team watches as the creature wipes out the horde in front of them. Some creatures tried to attack his feet, but the creature quickly grabs a utility pole and swings it like a club, killing many of them while also inadvertently pushing some cars towards the group.

"Get down!" Rogan yelled. The team manages to get down before the car hits them. The car crashes to the wall and blows up.

Kate looks at the unsuspecting creature again. This time the giant creature grabs some of them and eats them alive. Kate quickly looks away in disgust. "Ugh. Gross."

The creature lets out a loud roar and pounds its chest. He looks satisfied by his victory against the creatures.

Mikaela suddenly noticed a piece of fabric on its body. She looks slightly horrified by the realization.

"Is that, the guy from the store?" Mikaela asks.

Kate takes a good look at the huge creature. She noticed the fabric of the pants similar to the hostiles attacking them back in that store.

"Yeah. It's one of em." Kate said.

"Should have used those guns to kill themselves," Rogan said.

"But, how could he get access to that pathogen?" Mikaela asks. "I mean, he's just a regular thug, right?"

"He did mention that there's a bounty on our heads. Whoever put that bounty must have access to the pathogen." Aaron said.

The creature looks around and saw them. He starts slamming the pole to the ground.

"Guys?" Kate asks. "Run or fight?"

The creature lets out a huge roar.

"Uh, guys?!" Do we run or do we fight?!" Kate asks again.

The creature punches his chest and ran towards them.

"GUYS!"

"Just do it both!" Rogan yelled.

Rogan, Kate, Aaron, and Mikaela begins to run away from the creature The creature begins to swing his pole manically, pushing every roadblock in its way. Aaron stops for a moment and tries to shoot its knee. The creature slowed down for a moment but continues to chase after them. The creature grabs a car and throws it towards Mikaela. Beeping sounds can be heard from the car. Aaron quickly pushes Mikaela out of the way and ducks before the car hit him. The car explodes upon hitting the ground. The creature uses his horn and tries to ram towards Kate, but she manages to evade his attack. The creature hits the wall, giving her a window of opportunity to shoot its knee. Rogan and the others also opened fire to the creature's knee.

The creature recovers and quickly kicks Kate with its feet. Her body hits the glass window of a nearby shop. Kate winced in pain as the creature slowly came towards her. Rogan quickly distracts the creature by shooting his head, sparing Kate's life.

"Hey!" Rogan taunts the creature. "Come here you!"

The creature got distracted, giving Kate time to get back up. Mikaela quickly helped her get away as Rogan distracts the creature. The creature swings his pole, but Rogan avoids it. Aaron shoots the creature's leg from behind, distracting it. The creature swings the pole towards Aaron, knocking him down to a nearby car. Beeping sounds can be heard from the car.

"Oh crap," Aaron said. He managed to get back on his feet and limps away from the car. The car explodes, once again knocks him down. Kate, who was nearby helped him get back up. Meanwhile, Mikaela and Rogan distract the creature once again. The creature tried to squash them with the pole but Rogan and Mikaela managed to shoot its exposed knee, injuring it.

The team begins to run away while the creature recovers and grabs back his pole. They managed to get some distance before the creature sees them and starts chasing them again.

"Any ideas, Kate?" Rogan asks while they're running.

Kate looks around. On their right, she saw a construction site. Her brain starts to think and formulate a plan.

"I think I got an idea. This way!" Kate told the team.

Kate, Rogan, Aaron, and Mikaela ran towards the construction site. The creature followed right behind them.

* * *

"Stay back!" Kate told the team as she shoots the door blocking their way.

The construction site is very wide. Mounds of sand and rocks can be seen piled up on their left. Packs of cement can be seen nearby the pile. The rest house on the right seems empty and desolate. Numerous construction vehicles can be seen parked nearby the house, though there are 2 excavators nearby a pit of sand, digging something out. The project of the site, a huge tower was left unfinished, though the first 15 floors can be accessed through the construction elevator. Pieces of steel frames, metal rebars, and ceramic tiles can be seen around the floor. In front of them are metal rebars stuck on the ground.

"Ok. So what are we doing here?" Rogan asks Kate.

Kate looks around for a while. "Uhh... We'll make him fall." Kate told Rogan as she points to a tall pillar with protruding metal rebar on top of it, nearby the under-construction building. The team seems very interested and liked the idea.

"Not bad. Let's do this then." Aaron commented.

Rogan looks around and saw the creature at the distance. He makes an explosive entrance, kicking cars away from him recklessly. Some of which explode upon contact to the ground

"Hey!" Rogan shoots the creature to bait him in. "Come here you oversized pig!"

The creature got distracted and starts chasing Rogan.

"Here we go," Kate said. "Keep it busy! Mikaela, follow me!"

Kate and Mikaela ran towards the tower. Rogan and Aaron stayed behind to distract the creature. The creature enters the construction site and quickly catches up with them. Rogan and Aaron shoots the creature in the knee to slow him down. The creature shoots it's spikey skin towards them, but they quickly ran towards a pile of I-beams and hides behind it. Meanwhile, Kate called upon the construction elevator and gets inside along with Mikaela.

"You know he's part gorilla and he'll going to climb up, right?" Mikaela asks Kate.

"Yeah. That's why we stopped here." Kate told her.

Instead of going all the way to the 15th, the elevator stops on the 7th. Kate and Mikaela quickly leave the elevator. Before leaving, Kate sets the elevator to go up all the way to the 15th floor. The tower starts to shake. From below, the creature got distracted by the moving elevator and begins to climb up using its arms, giving the team a wide opportunity to attack its knee. The creature roared in pain as he falls towards the ground.

Kate looks down. She saw the rebar was left unaffected. They completely missed the mark.

"Damn." Kate cursed.

Gabrizel quickly gets up and saw Kate. He throws the pole towards Kate and Mikaela.

"Shit!" Kate swore. Kate and Mikaela jump away from the attack. The pole crashed through the floor and create a hole. Cracks began to appear on the floors.

The creature then ran towards the excavators and throws it towards Rogan and Aaron.

"Get down!" Aaron yelled. Rogan and Aaron get out of the way before the excavator hit them. The excavator hits the lower part of a stack of concrete pipes. The concrete pipes fall and roll down towards Rogan and Aaron. Rogan and Aaron quickly ran towards the stairs and escapes. The creature got knocked down by the pipes and immediately gets back up, pounding its chest angrily. Rogan and Aaron quickly climb up to the 7th floor and regroups with Kate and Mikaela.

"Now what?" Aaron said as he catches his breath.

"No choice. We're going up." Kate told the team.

The creature gets up and climbs up. The creature looks at the team at close proximity and roared.

"Stairs, now!" Rogan said to the team.

The creature uses its arm and tries to grab anyone who got caught in his range. The team manages to get to the stairs just before the creature could grab them. The small size of the room prevents the arm from pulling them out.

"Keep going!" Kate told the group.

The building begins to shake. The creature suddenly punches through the wall, attempting to make more space. The team continues to run upstairs. The creature tried to punch the walls in an attempt to grab them, but Kate, Rogan, Aaron, and Mikaela managed to avoid his grabs. The team quickly arrives on the 15th floor. The tower began to shake again and the creature climbs all the way to the top. He lets out a loud roar while pounds his chest. The floor began to show cracks around the creature. The creature walks towards the group, pounding his chest angrily.

"Kate, if we don't kill this thing quickly, it's weight is going to kill us all. The building will crumble and we'll fall." Aaron said.

"I know. I know. We just need to weaken him." Kate said.

"Yeah... Easier said than done." Rogan said.

The team opened fire to the creature. The creature gets agitated and grabs an I-beam. The creature walks towards them and tries to squash them. Rogan and Aaron gets behind and shoots the creature in the leg, while Kate and Mikaela stays behind and provide cover fire. The creature roared in anger and throws the bar towards them. Rogan and Aaron barely escaped as the bar hits the ground and made a large hole on the floor. The creature then grabs rebars and throws it to Rogan and Aaron. Rogan managed to avoid the attack, but Aaron failed to escape on time and got hit on the foot. Unable to move, Aaron embraces as another rebar pierced through his chest.

"S-shit," Aaron mumbled.

"NO!" Mikaela gets enraged. She began recklessly open fire to the creature. Rogan and Kate immediately open fire to the creature as well, providing cover fire for Aaron and Mikaela. Aaron pulls out the rebar out of his leg and with the help of Mikaela, limps away from the creature and hides behind a stack of I-beams. Blood flowing out of his body. His face turned pale.

"No, no no no." Mikaela sheds a tear. "This can't be happening..."

"Mika, go help them." Aaron pleads to Mikaela.

"No, I can't leave you here!"

"Listen! They need you, more than I did." Aaron said. He looks out of the cover and saw Rogan and Kate struggling to survive. The creature takes another rebar and throws it towards Kate, but she quickly dodges to the right. Kate quickly gets up and shoots it's unprotected knees. Meanwhile, Rogan tries to get a point-blank shot to its knee, but the creature fired his sharp spikes towards them. Rogan quickly takes cover behind a stack of concrete bricks, while Kate hides behind a pillar. A spike pierces through Rogan's cover, just right next to him.

"Please. Go help them." Aaron said to Mikaela.

Mikaela clenches Aaron's bloodied hands. She could feel his life is fading away. She clenches her fist and opens fire to the creature. Kate and Rogan get out of their cover and opened fire as well. The creature grabs metal rebars nearby and throws at Kate, but Mikaela pushes her away and evades at the last second. The creature then grabs another rebar and tries to squash Mikaela. Mikaela shoots the creature's knee, temporarily knocking it down.

"You're going to die if you're reckless like that," Kate said.

"I don't care anymore. That thing impaled Aaron." Mikaela said.

"Okay... Let's set aside your feelings for him. Any ideas on how to knock this guy down?" Rogan asks.

Kate looks around and spotted bags of cement stacked up high nearby the creature.

"Ok. Here's the plan." Kate explains. "We're going to make it blind. Mikaela and I will distract that thing, while Rogan throws one of the cement bags and shoot it. Can we agree with that?"

"Sounds like a good plan," Mikaela said. "It's payback time."

Kate and Mikaela opened fire to the creature while Rogan gets away and slowly gets to the stack of cement bags. The creature, distracted, grab a piece of rebar and runs towards them, trying to squash them. Kate and Mikaela roll away from danger and shoots the creature, injuring it. Kate and Mikaela then run away and approaches the stack of cement bags.

"Rogan, now!" Kate yelled.

Kate and Mikaela slide through Rogan as he throws a bag of cement and shoots it, sending cement dust all over the creature, temporarily blinding it. With the creature lost its sense of direction, Kate and Mikaela run through the dust, gets up close to the creature and unloads their ammo right on its knee. The creature roared in pain as loads of bullets pierce through its knee. Blood spewing everywhere. The creature finally loses balance and falls 15 stories to the ground, right on top of the pillar. The pillar pierces through the creature's body, splattering blood all over the place.

Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela watch as the creature, still alive, roared in pain as it fails to get up and recover. Mikaela quickly runs back towards Aaron. Kate and Rogan quickly join her and looks at Aaron, covered in blood with large rebar pierce through his chest. His skins turn pale as he continues to lose more blood.

"Guys..." Aaron said regretfully. His voice is hoarse and small. He chuckled for a moment "I look like shit, am I?"

"C' mon. We'll gonna get you fixed up. Hang in there." Mikaela told Aaron.

"No, Kate. No." Aaron refuses. "It's too late. I've lost too much blood. I'm not gonna make it."

"Please." Mikaela starts to cry. "Don't...don't you say that..."

Kate starts to shed a tear. She didn't know him as much as Mikaela did, but she sure understands her pain.

"It's okay..." Aaron said. He wipes Mikaela's tears off her face. "It's okay..."

Mikaela shed even more tears and cried on his shoulders.

Aaron struggled to speak. "Hey, Rogan..."

"I'm here," Rogan said.

"I'm sorry... for yelling at you earlier. Makes me feel like a bitch, isn't it?"

"Apology accepted." Rogan smiled. Rogan then shook Aaron's hands. "You're a good man, Aaron. A good man."

Aaron smiled faintly. "And Kate..." He continued. "Please. Save Ty for me."

"We will, buddy." Kate tried to hold her tears. "We will..."

Aaron looks at the sunset in front of him. He could feel the calm gentle breeze blowing on his face. He looks at Mikaela who's unwilling to lose him. As life fades away from him, he puts his arm unto her cheek. With his remaining energy he's got, he kisses her in his last moments. Aaron closes his eyes and smiled. Slowly, his arm fell from Mikaela's cheek, and fell to the ground, lifeless. Mikaela shook his body. Aaron doesn't respond at all. Mikaela breaks down and cried. Kate quickly came to her aid and gives her a comforting hug. Rogan lets out a sigh and silently prays for him.

Kate could only watch in silence as Mikaela cries on her shoulders.

* * *

Kate, Rogan, and Mikaela climbed down the stairs in silence. They arrived at the ground floor and saw the creature, still alive, trying to attack them despite its chest pierced by the pillar. They just leave the creature behind and left it for dead. They looked back towards the tower. They could faintly see Aaron's body, on the ground at the top floor.

Kate, Mikaela, and Rogan paid their last respects and slowly leaves the construction site, leaving him to rest in peace.

"Don't worry, Aaron," Mikaela mumbled. "We will be together again. I promise."

Kate heard Mikaela's mumbles and looks at her with worry. A part of her thought that Mikaela slowly losing her mind after Aaron's death.

"Well, we still have 8 miles to go." Rogan chimes in. "Hate break it to you, but we have to go. Shall we?"

Kate shakes off that negative thought. "Yeah. Let's go."

As Rogan and Kate leave the construction site, Mikaela stops and looks back for a moment.

"Farewell, Aaron." Mikaela simply said.

Mikaela turns back and starts to run, catching up to Rogan and Kate.

They ran in silence as they all mourn Aaron's death. No one spoke during the journey.


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4 - DESPAIR**

* * *

"Everyone, thank you for coming. I know all of you have been busy, but I'm glad you all willing to spend some time with me." A young man in his early 30s spoke in a confident but laid-back manner.

"My pleasure." An older, wiser man spoke. "It seems like you had something to unveil for all of us?"

"Yes." The young man answers. "I had a plan so our goals will be met much sooner."

"Yeah... you've been saying the exact shit all the others have said before you." A pessimistic woman said. "You making me bored, so let's get this over with as soon as possible, shall we?"

"Young lady," An old man said. "Mind your manners."

"But sir, with all due respect, I've been through these meetings a lot, and all of them feature the exact promising plans, only to crash and burn." The woman complained. "I wouldn't be surprised if his plans would end up like them."

"Young lady, if you keep acting like a spoiled brat, I suggest you prepare yourself for the worst." The old man warned her. His tone gets higher. "Aren't we agreed upon the rules that we must be open-minded? I don't think I need to remind you, the consequences. Hmm?"

The woman sighed and ultimately obliged to him.

"Go on." The old man continued. "Tell us about your plan."

"Thank you, sir." The young man smiled. He takes a deep breath to keep his composure and starts to explain. "You see, it's been around 5 years since I've joined the AMS. I've been working my ass off to joins the upper ranks, while at the same time, giving you people opportunities, to spread the outbreak for the better good of our kind. However, as I began to analyze the attacks itself, I found them to be... Impractical, ineffective, and expensive."

"May I ask why you have such sentiment?" Asks a curious man.

"Allow me to explain." The young man calmly said." There are three reasons why think that way. First, these clones that we've created, even though we've made them more dangerous and more aggressive, in the end, they're not resilient enough. A couple of shots to the head would still take them down. They're strong, yet possess a flaw, a weakness. Second, and can you all help me answer this question: We made large scale attacks to cities, some of them are even sudden and unknown to them, yet they managed to stop it, even with my intervention. The question is, how? How could they stop the attacks when they don't even know when we strike?"

No one in the room was able to answer the question.

"That's my point. We're getting weaker, and they're getting stronger. We're getting ahead of ourselves, underestimating their capabilities, while making clumsy yet fatal mistakes. They now had new people, very talented people, working tirelessly preventing our attacks. Even with my intervention, they just won't quit."

The man then displayed several pictures of various AMS agents. "Kate Green, Ryan Taylor, Amy Crystal, Harry Harris, Gary Stewart. These are just some of many other agents of the AMS, either on the field or behind the desk, slowly rising through the ranks. They're better, faster, smarter, willing to do anything to stop the infection. We must no longer underestimate these people. Which leads me, to the third problem..."

The man then points his finger towards the old man, then the arrogant lady, then the wise man, and then everyone in the room. "You, you, you, you, you. All of you, ladies and gentlemen, are getting old. You use the same old stuff, with the same old strategy, with the same old plans. It's getting obsolete."

"Hey!" An arrogant woman said. "How dare you mocking me!"

"Which is exactly why you're in denial, ma'am." The young man calmly said. "Tell me, of all the attacks you've planned, which of them have truly succeeded? How many of them have truly we could deem a success? Ones where the damage is complete and they're unable to recover?"

The woman couldn't give a definite answer.

"And that is what's wrong we all of us. As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, we're getting behind. We stayed upon the same plans over and over again, that we forgot the most important thing: improvise what went wrong. They say if it ain't broke don't fix it. Unfortunately, what didn't break will be over time."

The old man nods in understanding. "So you are saying that we have made not-so-significant progress?"

"Progress? Sure we made some, but not as great as I hoped for. I am here to offer all of you help. A solution."

"What is this 'solution' that you offered?" A curious man asked.

"I will not reveal it unless he allows me." The young man then said to the old man. "Sir?"

The old man thinks for a moment, rubbing his chin before he smiled at the young man. "I like you, a lot. When you approached me years ago, I saw this brilliant spark within you. Your creativity. your meticulousness. Your desire for a change. That talent of yours. It appears that I wasn't mistaken. Please, reveal your plan."

There's a sinister smile on the young man's face.

"Thank you." He said.

* * *

 _ **March 1**_ _ **2, 2011**_

 _ **21.54**_

"We're close," Kate said while trying to catch her breath. "It's just up ahead."

"20 miles within 4 hours..." Rogan said. "Never thought we'll make it in time, but here we are now."

"Any signs of the man in the hoodie?" Kate asks.

"He's definitely inside waiting for us to come," Mikaela replied.

"Well, here goes nothing," Kate said. "Let's go."

Rogan and Mikaela agreed. The three carefully sneaks into the shipyard.

The shipyard is a wide, open area with tall metal fences surrounding it. Through the fence, they saw large buildings on their right, stacks of shipping containers on their left, docked ships in front, and large shipyard cranes surrounding the area. Several cars were neatly parked in the parking lot nearby a building. A broken ship was left behind nearby one of the cranes.

Their attention went toward a familiar black van, parked nearby the building.

"He's definitely inside, alongside Tyrone," Mikaela said.

"Yeah. It's definitely where he wants us to go," Kate agreed. "We've got to hurry."

Rogan walks towards the guardhouse. No one is inside. He presses the button and the metal gate slowly opens. Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela enters the shipyard and carefully heads towards the building

Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela slowly approach the car near the building. Fearing that the car would blow up, Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela decide to stay away from the car and move towards the front door. Kate and Mikaela take cover on the wall, while Rogan takes the lead and prepares to open the door.

"You guys ready?" Rogan asks. "Once we're in, there's no turning back."

"I'm ready," Kate replied. "Mik, you're ready?"

Mikaela looks uncertain. Kate immediately understands as she had just lost Aaron some hours ago.

"Mik? You're okay?" Kate asks.

"Yeah. I'm okay. Let's get this done." Mikaela replied confidently.

"Alright, better waste no time," Rogan said. "Let's finish this death marathon."

Rogan kicks the door open, and they went inside. They saw a large workbench in front of them, with a variety of tools hanged on the wall. On the table, they saw a blueprint of an engine, with the engine next to it. They looked down and saw a puddle of blood on the floor. They also saw a trail of blood, leading towards nearby lockers.

"Is this a repair shop for the ships around here?" Kate asks.

Rogan opens the lockers and found several human bodies with clothes that a mechanic would typically wear. All of them had a bullet wound on their heads.

"Seems like it," Rogan told Kate.

Mikaela slightly opens the door in front of them. She can hear sounds of struggle from within. Kate and Rogan heard those struggling sounds and signals Mikaela to open the door wider. Mikaela opens the door wide open, and Rogan gets inside.

Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela enter a very large, garage-like space, with smaller boats parked nicely. Several larger boats can also be found hanged using chains. There are stairs leading to the upper floor. On the second floor, more workbenches can be seen, with plenty of tools that can be found. Blueprints are taped and stuck on the walls. Racks full of spare parts and screws can be found on the side of the walls. Shelves of unused engine parts can be seen on the far back of the room. On the side, a couple of crates were lying around. The words "Fragile" were stamped all over the crates. Boxes filled with metal components were stacked on the side of the room. There's also a stack of shipping containers stored in the far end of the room. A forklift is seen parked nearby the container. In front of them is a huge metal shutter that is closed.

And in the middle of the room, they saw Tyrone, hanged on a noose. The rope is tied to one of the pulleys on the roof. He is able to postpone his death with a small crate that held his feet.

"Oh my god." Kate gasped. "Ty!"

Tyrone looks behind the team. He tried to warn Kate and the team of the impending danger. Tyrone tried to tell them through gestures by pointing at them. Rogan quickly recognizes this message.

"Behind!" Rogan yelled.

Kate looks behind and was greeted with a kick in the face by the mysterious man. Kate got knocked down and accidentally pushes away Tyrone's crate. Rogan and Mikaela fight back but the man quickly grabs Rogan's punch and pushes him away. He then blocks Mikaela's punches and knees her, causing her to fall back and collapse to the ground.

Kate gets up and gets the full view of the man. He wore a black, long-sleeved hoodie with rattlesnake skin pattern and elbow pads, long trousers with knee pads, a pair of combat gloves, a brass knuckle on his left hand, a mask, and a pair of red-tinted tactical goggles. She then looks behind and saw Tyrone struggling to keep himself alive.

"So you're the guy in the video," Kate told the man. Curiously, the man didn't seem to care, nor spoke a word.

"Tell me, what do you want from us? Why do you killing AMS agents?!"

The man didn't speak a word. Instead, he puts on his hood.

"Hey! You're listening?!" Rogan angrily told the man while getting up.

Again, the man didn't speak a single word. He slowly walks towards them. He seems hell-bent on killing them.

"Urghh... A little help here?" Tyrone struggles to speak. He looks very pale.

"Mik," Kate told Mikaela as she got up. "Take care of him."

"On it," Mikaela told Kate while trying to catch her breath.

Kate quickly aims and shoots the pulley above Tyrone, loosen up the rope and saves Tyrone. Mikaela quickly ran towards Tyrone, who nearly loses his breath and took him upstairs. Kate then quickly aims at the man, but he quickly grabs her gun and throws it away before she could fire. Kate punches him, but the man blocks her attacks and punches her in the chest. Rogan is quick to react and ambushes him with a jab, allowing Kate to break free from the man's attack. Rogan follows his attack with one-two punches on the chest, but the man knees him and retaliates with a jab and a hook, knocking Rogan down. Kate grabs Rogan's shotgun on the floor and shoots at the man. The man flinches, before looks at Kate and comes after her. Kate fired multiple shots towards him but only seem to do nothing but a flinch. The man grabs Kate on the neck and lifts her. Kate drops the shotgun and tries to break free from his grasp, but she can't do anything as she slowly gasped for air.

The man takes a glance at his hoodie. His hoodie got some holes on it. Kate looks at the man's clothing and saw something metallic underneath the holes.

"Bulletproof clothing..." Kate struggles to speak. "What a surprise."

The man pulls Kate closer to him. Kate saw the man's eyes through the tinted goggles. He looks mad at her. The man then throws Kate away to a boat. Kate screamed in pain as the body of the boat hits her back. Kate tried to get up and punches him, but the man grabs her punch, twist her arm and kicks her, slamming her body against the metal shutter.

The man looks at Kate and walks towards her unconscious body. Rogan gets up again and ambushes the man from behind. Rogan holds on as the man attempts to break free from his grasp by crashing to the workbenches and racks. Rogan attempts to knock the man down and locks him in a chokehold, but the man does a body slam, pinning Rogan down. The man punches Rogan repeatedly in the face, but Rogan breaks free from his grasps and kicks him in the chest, knocking down a shelve in the process.

Rogan wipes off the blood from his face as the man gets up. There's a crack on his goggles. He angrily took it off, revealing his hazel colored eyes. The man walks towards Rogan. Rogan cracked his fists as the man launches his attacks with his jabs and fists. Rogan dodges it and quickly fights back with a series of small jabs and a hook. The man dodges Rogan's hook punch and locks his arm, causing him to scream in pain and fell to his knees. Rogan retaliates with kicks and elbow punches, but the man kneed him and punches his face. He then lifts his unconscious body and throws him to the boats, injuring Rogan's shoulders. The man then kicks Rogan in the chest and knocking him out.

Before the man could finish off Rogan, Tyrone intervenes by shooting the man. The man, clearly annoyed, instead climb upstairs and went after Mikaela and Tyrone. Upstairs, Mikaela and Tyrone are waiting for him. Tyrone has recovered and aims the gun at the man. Behind him, Mikaela prepared herself by using a metal pole as a weapon. The two have seen what just happened downstairs.

"Stop right there, dickhead," Tyrone told the man.

The man cracks his neck and defiantly walks toward them. Tyrone opened fire to the man, but the man charges at him and knocked him down. Mikaela starts her attack by swinging her pole, but the man blocks it with his brass knuckle. The man pushes Mikaela forward and tried to punch her, but Mikaela dodges it. Tyrone quickly gets back up and attempts to punch the man while his attention is on Mikaela, but the man kicks him in the groin before he could do so, knocking him down again. Mikaela swings her pole while he's distracted, hitting him in the arm. The man retaliates by grabbing her pole and threw it away, leaving her defenseless. Tyrone got up again and punches him back, injuring the man's arm. Furious, the man chokes Tyrone and pushes him to a workbench. Tyrone breaks free by grabbing a hammer and hits the man's injured arm. A muffled scream can be heard.

"That's what happens when you kill my friend," Tyrone said. "Let's make this even, shall we."

"Let's do this." Mikaela cracks her fists.

Mikaela and Tyrone together attack the man, but the man recovered and quickly dodges their attacks. The man punches Tyrone in the ribs and kicks Mikaela to the railings. The man then chokes and pushes her as she struggles to keep herself to not fall down. Tyrone chokes the man from behind, forcing him to let go of Mikaela. He deliberately crashes to the shelves, before flips Tyrone over. Tyrone attempts to fight back but he got kicked in the stomach and hits the table, dropping his hammer. Mikaela grabs another metal bar and attempts to stab him. The man recklessly throws a box of wrenches, taking her off guard. Using this opportunity, the man punches her in the face. As she got knocked down, the man picks up the hammer and swings it, attempting to finish her off.

Rogan, who has got up after his defeat, once again ambushes the man and rams him to a shelf. He punches the man unto his chest, and kicks him, forcing him to drop the hammer. The man fell back to the stairs. The man got up again and tried for a hook, but Rogan blocks his attacks and pushes him to a wall. Rogan then attacks the man with a series of punches and knee jabs, before kicking him off the railings, sending him falling to the first floor.

Rogan jumps down the stairs and tries to beat the man up, but the man got up and takes out a Bowie knife from his pocket. Rogan backs out as the man swings his knife. Rogan tries to punch him, but he got slashed in the chest.

"Too slow." The man taunts him.

"Oh?" Rogan sarcastically replied. "You do talk! What a surprise, eh!"

The man swings his knife, but Rogan dodges it. Rogan punches him in the chest and kneed him, but the man slashed Rogan in the arm, injuring him. Rogan was forced to fall back as the man swings his knife erratically. The man tries to stab Rogan, but he avoids it. Rogan fights back, delivering punches and elbow strikes to the man. Rogan then kicks the man down. Kate, who manages to regain consciousness, yelled and charges towards the man as he tries to get back up. She strikes the man and sends him crashing through a shelf.

Kate fell again to the ground, completely exhausted. Rogan lends his hand and helps Kate get back up. Mikaela and Tyrone quickly came downstairs.

"Hey, you okay girl?" Tyrone asks.

"Yeah, I'm good," Kate told Tyrone.

The man tries to get back up. He gets up from the mess and grabs his knife. His mask has fallen off. The man looks at Kate with hate and disgust. Kate, however, looks at the man with confusion and shock. Her hand starts to tremble. A tear race down her cheeks.

"...Alan?" Kate slowly asks.

"Who's Alan?" The man simply responds.

He walks slowly towards Kate, knife at hand. He suddenly lunges towards Rogan. Kate quickly stands in front of Rogan, protecting him.

"Alan... This is not you." Kate tried to talk to him. "Come to your senses!"

"Who is this Alan?!" He yells.

He swings his knife towards Kate. Kate quickly dodges it. Kate positions herself so that he comes after her instead.

"Kate, what are you doing?" Rogan asks.

"Waking him up," Kate tells Rogan.

"Kate," Mikaela said. "This is probably not the Alan we know. It might be a trap."

"I know." Kate simply said.

"He's gone, Kate," Tyrone said. "He can't be him. We've all read the files. He's dead!"

"No, he's right there!" Kate yelled. "I just need to wake him up."

"Enough with your bullshit!" He said while attacking Kate. He swings his knife, but Kate manages to avoid it.

Kate tried to reason with him. "Alan, listen to me. I know you're in there. This murderous attitude isn't you. Drop the knife, and we could talk."

He starts to laugh maniacally. "You think I'll be convinced that easily? You fool." He tried to stab Kate again, but Kate withstands his attack and punches him. Kate delivers a series of punches, but the man swings his knife and injures her arm. He tries to stab her, but Kate manages to withstand it.

"C' mon Alan, this is crazy! This is not you!" Kate begs him.

"Shut up." He said to Kate. "Just let me kill you and you'll have your 'Alan' very soon!"

"ENOUGH!" Rogan ambushes him from behind and rams him to a wall, dropping his knife in the process. Rogan punches him, but the man punches him in the chest, knocking Rogan down. Mikaela attacks him from behind by locking his arms, while Tyrone delivers a series of punches to his chest. He breaks free by doing a body slam to Mikaela and kicks Tyrone away from him, sending him crashing through the shelves. Tyrone gets up and tried to punch him, but he quickly grabs his arm and twisted it. He then punches his neck, choking him and knocked him down. Rogan comes back and kicks him, knocking him down. He quickly kicks Rogan in the chest to give him time to get up. Rogan delivers a series of punches that he managed to block. He then suddenly tackles Rogan and knocks him down. He then elbow punched Rogan in the neck, knocking him down for good. Mikaela gets back up and tries to fight back by delivering a hook, but he quickly gets up and kicks her foot. Mikaela tried to kick him back, but he grabs her leg and hurls her around. Mikaela tried to get up, but he comes towards her and pulls her hair.

He looks at a stunned Kate. She looks horrified by the situation.

"Weak." He said.

He delivers a punch to Mikaela's head and knocks her down. Outside, a clap of thunder was heard.

The man then picks up his knife and points it to Kate. "But you, girl. You're one of a kind. You became... passive after being so, aggressive. Odd, isn't it?"

"This is not who you are, Alan," Kate said.

"Alan. Alan! ALAN!" He became so pissed that he kicks down a shelf next to him. "Why you keep telling me that?!"

"Because that's your name, Alan Rene Donovan!" Kate shouts. "You were born on April 10, 1980, in St. Louis, Missouri. Your father's name is Nikolai Donovan, and your mother's name is Amanda Orswich-Donovan. You've joined the AMS in 2002 and you had a girlfriend, who you're now trying to kill!" Kate starts to tear up. "So please, stop. J-just stop... Please..."

He begins to doubt himself. He looks away for a moment, before suddenly lunges towards her and slashes her arm. Kate screamed as she looks at her bloodied arm.

"Bullshit." He told Kate. "You're spouting nothing but lies. As expected from an AMS agent." He then kicks Kate and knocks her down.

Kate looks at her fallen friends. Rogan wakes up and tries to get up but falls back down due to exhaustion. Mikaela and Tyrone remain unconscious. She then looks at him. It was at this moment that she accepts the fact that Alan is truly gone. She clenches her fists. Blood slowly drips from her hand. She could hear the thunder rumble just outside. She gets back up, with her fists raised up. The man lunges towards Kate and tried to stab her. Kate quickly deflects his knife swing and punches him in the face. He slowly falls back, surprised by the counter.

"I see you're getting aggressive again." He taunts. "You finally snapped out of your daydream I assume?"

"I don't want to do this, Alan," Kate said. "But you leave me no choice."

"You're one stubborn bitch." He said.

He then swings back his knife, which Kate dodges it. Kate retaliates with a punch, but he blocks it and slashes Kate again in the leg. He then tries again to stab her, but Kate quickly grabs his arm and breaks it, dropping the knife to the ground. Kate elbows his ribs and punches his face. He angrily fights back, punching her numerous times. Kate falls back from his flurry of punches and dodges it. Kate tried to kick him, but he dodges it and retaliates with a strong punch in the stomach. With her open to attack, he punches her face several times before throws her to a stack of boxes. Kate quickly gets back up and retaliates by kicking and punching him. The man grabs back the knife tried to stab her, but she punches his legs and flips him over. The man swings his knife erratically but Kate twists his arm, dropping it once more. However, the man kicks Kate in the stomach, hurting her badly. Kate tried to fight back, but the man punches repeatedly in the chest and punched her in the face, knocking her down for good.

The man, exhausted, chuckled as he savors his victory. He picks up his knife again and walks towards Kate. Kate, barely conscious at this point, looked at him. Her face shows the expression of defeat.

"Please, Alan... No." Kate tears up as she tried to stop him.

"You know. I want to play around with you longer." He said as he kneeled. "Unfortunately, you're too annoying for me to handle."

The man slowly raises his knife, prepared to stab her. "Farewell."

"Alan, no!" Kate screamed as she closes her eyes in fear. Her hand movement screams at him to stop.

He didn't stop nor hesitate. He angrily swings his knife.

* * *

Kate slowly opens her eyes. She's still breathing. She was wondering why she's still alive. She was sure that the man who was once a kind and caring man named 'Alan' was very close to claiming her life.

She opens her eyes and saw the knife, barely touched her stomach. He stopped at the last minute.

She looks at the man. He looks very confused. He looks at something on her chest. Kate looks at her chest and saw her necklace sticking out of her shirt.

He pulls back his knife from Kate's stomach. He extends his arm and has a closer look at the necklace. The necklace has a beautiful butterfly-shaped ornament in the center, with four small sapphire stones forming its wings.

Kate looks at the necklace. She reminded of the day when she and Alan began their relationship, the day when he took her out to a park nearby the AMS Headquarters back in 2007.

 _"Hey, Kate," Alan said back in the day. "Turn around and close your eyes."_

 _"Why?" Kate asks._

 _"Just do it, alright?" Alan assures her. "Calm down, I ain't going to kill you or anything."_

 _"Ha, funny," Kate sarcastically said while turning back. She closed her eyes in excitement. Her cheeks turned red._

 _Alan took something out from his pocket. He takes out a necklace and calmly puts it around Kate's neck._

 _"Done." Alan smiles. "Open your eyes."_

 _Kate opens her eyes and saw the sapphire butterfly on her neck. She looks confused as she quickly turns around._

 _"Happy Birthday," Alan smiled. Kate's blush rose immediately._

 _"T-the necklace..." Kate said. "H-How do you get this?"_

 _"I've spent a fortune on this." Alan simply said. "You once said that you wanted this necklace so..."_

 _"Aww, you don't have to say that, now I feel bad about it!" Kate complains. "How much does it cost?"_

 _"Let's just say I've spent my entire salary for the year..." Alan laughs._

 _"Jeez... Now I'm feeling bad about having this." Kate said. "But anyway, thank you... for the gift."_

 _Kate then sits closer to Alan and kisses him on the cheek. She then rests her face unto his shoulders. Alan and Kate looked at each other in the eyes and smiled. The two watch together as the sun sets._

 _"Hey," Alan said. "It's getting dark. Why don't we go somewhere else?"_

 _"The mall? Sure_ _." Kate said._

 _The two smiled from cheek to cheek. They held their hands together and walked away side by side._

The memories of that day. Kate hadn't forgotten it.

Kate soon felt something wet on her shirt. She then saw the man, looking confused and horrified. Tears escaped from his eyes and fell to her shirt.

"...K-Kate?" The man asks himself. "...what have... I... done?"

"Alan?" Kate asks him. "Have you... came back?"

The man looks at his knife. He looks horrified. He felt an icy sensation on his arms. He quickly drops the knife and looks at Kate. "W-what have I done?"

"It's okay, Alan. It's okay." Kate quickly sat up and tried to calm him down. She wipes her tears from her face. "I-I'm fine. I'm okay."

Kate touched the man's hands. His hands are icy cold, trembling in fear and shock. She quickly takes his hands and comforts him. He felt the warmth from her hands as if everything he has done was forgiven in an instant.

"K-Kate," Alan said apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Kate tried to hold her tears. "It's okay Alan, you did nothing wrong."

Kate held his hand tighter. She wipes the tears off his face. Kate couldn't hold her tears and hugs him.

"I-I thought..." Kate starts to cry. "I thought you're d-dead."

She cried on his shoulders. Alan comforts her back as she broke down. Kate looks at her long-lost partner. The two stares at each other at the eyes and the two share a kiss. Kate hugs Alan tighter, never want to let him go again.

"I miss you," Kate whispered. "Welcome back..."

"I miss you too," Alan whispered back.

"Sorry to interrupt lovebirds," Rogan said while struggling to get up, ruining the moment. "But can you help us up?"

"Oh crap!" Kate quickly realized the situation they're in. Kate and Alan quickly helped Rogan and the others to stand up.

After getting helped by Alan, Mikaela quickly repays his kindness with a punch to the stomach. "So it _is_ you. Asshole! You tried to kill me!"

"Yeah, I deserve it," Alan said to himself while trying to hold the pain.

Mikaela then quickly comes back and hugs him. "We all thought you're dead! Where have you been?!"

"I can't remember," Alan admits and awkwardly hugs her back. "But, um... sorry, for everything."

"You one sonofabitch," Tyrone said to Alan while shook his hand. "First you're dead, then came back, then trying to kill me and now, you're helping me get back on my feet. You sure you're not bipolar, man?"

"I don't know, honestly," Alan admits. "My mind felt fuzzy."

"Nevertheless..." Tyrone gives him an awkward yet comforting hug. "Glad to see you again."

"Guys," Alan awkwardly said while looking at the team's messy looking appearance. "Sorry for uh, everything."

"For the record, I still had suspicions against you," Rogan told Alan.

"Yeah. I deserve it. Especially after nearly killing the Eager Eagle." Alan nods.

"Do you remember anything after the operation, when we all presumed you dead?" Mikaela asks Alan. "Experimentations? Brainwashing? Anything?"

Alan begins to think about it. "Now that you mentioned it..." Alan looks at his unusual clothing. "I do remember being put into a machine. I don't remember who put me in there though."

"So it is brainwashing," Kate said.

"Well, at least you're back to your senses," Mikaela said.

"Yeah. Now, let's get the hell out of here before the pr-" Tyrone said.

A loud distracting noise suddenly can be heard out of nowhere. The team got exposed to the sound and the ear-piercing noise forces them to close their ears. The noise is gone after a few moments.

"Everyone okay?" Rogan asks.

"Arggh... Seriously, what the hell?" Mikaela complains.

Kate looks around after the confusion. She looks at her side and saw that Alan is gone. She looks around in a daze before saw Alan nearby the shutter. He's kneeling in pain, holding his head very tight, as if he's having an acute migraine.

"Alan?" Kate asks while trying to help Alan.

"No, no-no. I'm okay." Alan calms Kate down as he tried to withstand the pain. "I'm okay."

"Alan, what's wrong?!" Kate insisted on helping him. "Answer me!"

Alan continues to experience constant pain in his head. He seems trying to grab something from his back. Kate quickly helped him and tried to take off his hoodie. She takes it off and gasps.

"Guys..." Kate said. She nearly couldn't speak. She turns Alan's around and reveals what she has found: a metal necklace with a hexagon-shaped ornament in the back, attached to his neck."

"No way," Mikaela exclaimed. "Is that what I'm thinking right now?"

"Yeah. No doubt about it, it's a Neurocontrol device." Tyrone said.

"I thought that project was scrapped years ago." Rogan angrily said. "I thought your old director Hopkins had stopped the damn project!"

"For the record, he did," Tyrone explains. "He even made sure all those blueprints and research notes wiped out without a trace."

"How are you so sure about it?" Rogan asks.

"Because I'm the one who wiped the whole damn thing," Tyrone said.

"Yes, you did. That killed me on the inside, y' know? Seeing a piece of your plan ruined by a bunch of varmints." A voice came out of nowhere. The voice sounds familiar to everyone in the building. "Fortunately, I've saved them in backup storage, so be glad I didn't gut you like a fish that night."

They looked around, but no one's there. Rogan did notice a speaker on one side of the ceilings.

"Schaeffer." Alan struggled to speak. "God...dammit."

Kate sounds confused. "...Mr. Director?"

"What?" Mikaela asks.

"Is that you Schaeffer?!" Rogan yells.

There's no response.

"Hey!" Rogan yelled again. "Answer me!"

"No way," Mikaela said in denial. "There's no way it's him."

After a long silence, the voice began to speak.

"Well, there goes my cover." The voice said.

"So it IS you!" Rogan yelled.

"What on earth, is going on here?" Tyrone sounds very confused.

"Well, since the lid is blown wide open I might as well gave a bit of an insight," Schaeffer said. "You see, all of you, except Mr. Rogan, have been involved in an act I personally never forgive. This, my dear agents, is your punishment."

"Punishment? What do you mean?!" Mikaela yelled.

"You really don't remember?" Schaeffer asks. "Let me refresh your memory. February 6, 2008. Ring any bells?"

Tyrone thinks hard before he realized something. He looks shocked. "That mission? The one where we lost 14 members of our unit? The one where we burn the place down?! That one?!"

"Ah, finally someone who remembers." Schaeffer slyly said. "I was expecting you guys to realize this much sooner. I mean, those mutations are a dead giveaway."

"Schaeffer you bastard..." Alan said. "What did you do to me?!"

"What did I do?" Schaeffer said. "What did _you_ do? Your actions during that day led you to this situation. I'm just taking the opportunity and ride along."

"So..." Kate barely could even speak. "You did all of this? For what, revenge?!"

Schaeffer explains. He then lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry guys. I really don't want to kill you all, not gonna lie. If only that crippling old man didn't send you all to that damned mission..."

"Old man?" Rogan asks. "You mean... Hopkins? What did you do to him?!"

Schaeffer chuckled before replying. "Nothing. I just... Let his actions, determine his fate."

Rogan clenched his fists. He quickly grabs his shotgun from the floor and shoots at the speaker. The speaker soon breaks down due to damage. Small sparks coming out from it.

"Ah, where was I? Ahh yes." Schaeffer spoke through another speaker in the room. He talks as if nothing happened. He then continued, "I've been planning this... No, we have been planning this, for years, and it all went smoothly, except one. You. All of you.

Alan's headache became more severe as time goes on. He no longer could hold it anymore and passed out.

"Alan!" Kate lifts his unconscious body and tried to wake him up.

Alan suddenly wakes up again, but his body begins to move as if he's been controlled by a puppeteer. He pushes Kate away as he gets up in a really odd manner.

Schaeffer continued, "You guys were like roaches. You guys simply just a pain to kill. When I sent my right hand, you blew up her face. Now, when I sent my prized left hand, you guys somehow won in ways I never understand. You leave me no choice but to... crank things up a bit."

Alan moves as if it was programmed on a computer. He took a syringe, similar to the one he uses against Valentino, out from his pocket. Before the team could do anything, he stabs the syringe to his neck. The whole group collectively shouts in terror as they watch Alan injects the contents of the syringe to his body.

"NO!" Kate screamed.

"Yes..." Schaeffer wittily replies.

Alan's body begins to twitch erratically. Alan, in his efforts to control his body, begins to speak.

"Oh..." Alan struggles to speak. "Oh, shit..." He collapses soon after. His body continues to twitch.

"What did you do to him?" Kate angrily asks. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"Look, I just really wanted to kill you, ok? You guys have been alive for far too long. You guys must be removed from the equation. I just order him to use that syringe, that's all." Schaeffer sounds annoyed. "You all going to die here. You all cannot escape the inevitable."

"You will pay for this-"

"'You will pay for this, I won't let you get away with this. yadda yadda yadda.'" Schaeffer mocks her. "Please, say something more original, jeez!"

"I will kill you," Kate swore. "I swear, I will fucking kill you."

"Eh, that's just as bad." Schaeffer seems unimpressed. "Well, try to kill me, if you can find me. Oh and by the way, Rogan. Just so you know. I don't have a sister, it's just a fucking lie. She's my girl, and you killed her, in that club."

"You, mother-" Rogan tried to control his anger.

"Alright fellas. Time to go. Have fun, and my the odds be in your favor... See you later, maybe." Schaeffer said for the last time. He made a small chuckle before shutting down the speaker.

"Schaeffer..." Alan said. "That bastard put me in this goddamn outfit and brainwashed me."

Alan begins to twitch again, but he manages to hold it back. "Guys... Leave me, now." Alan told everyone. "Use this as a window of opportunity. I'll hold back the infection as long as I could. Get out of here while you still can!"

"No, I can't." Kate refuses as she holds his cold hands tight. "I can't just leave you here. We've just lost Aaron, we can't lose you too!"

"Just GO!" Alan shouts and pushes Kate away. Kate felt a powerful force pushing her backward. Kate could only look in shock and awe.

"He's right, Kate." Rogan chimes in. "He's infected. There's nothing we can do."

After a moment of thought, Kate took her gun from the floor. She looks at one of the speakers and rages out. She screamed in anger like an enraged lion and shoots at the speaker. The speaker fell from the ceiling. Smoke and sparks coming out from it, yet she continues to shoot. When she ran out of ammo and couldn't shoot anymore, she stomps and kicks the fallen speaker furiously. She eventually drops down and cried. Rogan and the others could only watch as Kate lets out all of her anger unto a speaker.

"Hey..." A dying Alan told Kate. "Since when you became trigger-happy and easily offended? That's not the girl I loved."

"Since... I lost you. Back when I saw you got crushed by the rubble. Back when you begged me to run away..." Kate cried. "You've come back, but now I have to let you go, again... For good this time..."

"Hey, hey hey. Don't cry now." Alan tries to cheer her up. "Come here."

Kate gets up and walks towards her lover. She kneeled next to him. Alan, using all of his remaining strength, gets up. He wipes her tears off her face and kisses Kate on the forehead. Kate felt nothing but comfort as he kisses her for one last time. Alan slowly took something out from his pocket and puts it into hers. Kate takes a look at what Alan has given to her. A small remote is on her possession. She presses a red button in the center and a beep sound can be heard from outside. The words 'Bombs Disabled' appear on the small remote.

Kate looks at Alan. Alan smiles and gives her a reassuring look. "Go."

Kate, despite her intentions to stay, eventually came to terms and decides to oblige. She kisses Alan back on the forehead, a farewell gift. She shed a small tear. She slowly gets up and looks behind. Rogan, Mikaela and Tyrone all waiting for her at the exit. Rogan extends his hand, waiting for her. Deep down, he can feel her true feelings: saddened, angry, and full of vengeance.

"Rogan," Alan said as they leave him. "We may not know each other for long, but... Keep her save for me."

"We'll make him pay. I'll promise." Rogan assures Alan.

Kate walked backwards towards Rogan, Mikaela, and Tyrone. Alan looks at her and gives a comforting look, even when facing his eventual demise. Outside, they could hear the thunder roaring in the sky. One by one, they slowly leave him. Rogan leaves the room first, followed by Mikaela and Tyrone. Kate is the last to leave. Her eyes were fixed at Alan.

After a while, Kate walks away from the room, leaving him behind.

* * *

"Hurry," Rogan ordered the others. He points at the black van nearby them. Kate, Mikaela, and Rogan quickly get onto the sedan and waited as Tyrone tries to hotwire the car.

"C' mon Ty..." Mikaela said. "Work your magic for us."

"I'm trying, I'm trying..." Tyrone said while keeping his eyes on the cables.

After waiting for a while, the car starts to come to life. Tyrone shifted the gears and hits the brakes, and the car drives in reverse.

As the car drives backward, Mikaela notices something within the building.

"What is that?" Mikaela points out something at the entrance. They can hear sounds of metal clanging and slam to the ground. They can hear shelves and boats fall to the ground. The shutter in front of them begins to bend. Something is indeed inside, wreaking havoc, and trying to get out of that building.

Kate sighs. "It's Alan... We've got our headstart."

Suddenly something emerged out from the metal shutters. The lights around the shipyard reveal it's appearance: It has a body resembling a horse. It has a thin brown fur covering its body, with a thick, darker colored fur on its lion-shaped head. Its legs are thin, with elongated claws similar in size to those of a lion. As expected, fabrics of a men's clothing can be seen on its legs and its lower torso. Ones belong to a certain Alan Donovan.

Rogan took out his PDA and makes a scan. His PDA identifies the creature as Type P-0813, named "Jophiziel". According to the scan, its neck has weak skin, making it a possible weak point.

"Uh... Ty? You better go faster than this!" Mikaela stuttered in fear.

"Buckle up!" Tyrone told her.

The creature looks at the car and starts running, heading towards the car.

Kate takes a deep breath and starts shooting at the creature through the front window. Rogan opens the side doors and opened fire as well. The creature didn't get affected by the gunfire and runs straight ahead. Tyrone takes a sharp turn and performs a reverse 180, getting out of the creature's way. The creature quickly turns around and starts chasing them again. Tyrone hits the gas and drives towards a nearby warehouse. The car burst through the doors, with the creature following them from behind, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

"Guys... It's coming!" Tyrone told everyone.

"On it," Kate said. She and Rogan quickly shoot the creature on its neck. The creature reacts with a roar and slowed down for a moment. The car continues to drive away, while the creature runs away from them.

"Did we lose it?" Kate asks.

"I think we've lost it," Rogan said.

Suddenly, the creature pierces through the wall on the other side of the warehouse. The creature climbs on top of the stack of shipping crates and lunges towards the car. The creature hits the side of the sedan just before they got out of the warehouse, sending it spinning out of control. Tyrone attempts to regain control of the sedan but failed as the car continues to spun wildly.

"Hang on!" Tyrone yelled.

The sedan spun uncontrollably until it hits one of the support pillars of a crane. The sedan is totaled, with a part of the sedan crushed, and smoke coming out from the hood. Airbags were quick to inflate, allowing the team to survive with minor injuries.

"Get out!" Tyrone told everyone. Kate and Rogan got out first by kicking the door open and quickly helped Mikaela and Tyrone who sits at the front.

"Okay... What should we do now?" Mikaela asks.

Rogan looks around. In front of them is the warehouse and where the creature is coming towards. On their left is a tall fence they can't climb fast enough, and on the right is a wide empty field. On the distance, he can see large gantry cranes overhang through a large row of containers. An idea came into Rogan's mind.

"Get to the crane!" Rogan told everyone.

The creature looked at them and roared. The creature ran towards the sedan and attacks it. The team quickly runs towards the stack of containers in panic. The car explodes, with its fiery remains tossed over. The team could only listen in horror and run for their lives. The creature looks at Rogan and the others and makes a loud roar. Rogan and the others immediately stopped for one moment and shoot the creature on its neck. The creature falls back, giving them more time to run. They took that opportunity to get away from the creature as far away as possible.

"Kate, Mikaela, don't follow me!" Rogan yelled at Kate and Mikaela while they're running. He then told Tyrone. "Ty, follow me!"

Rogan then yelled to the creature, trying to distract it. "Hey, freak! Come and get me!"

The team ran across the field and arrived at the containers. Kate and Mikaela followed Rogan's instructions and split up from Rogan and Tyrone while they ran straight ahead. The creature, as Tyrone and Rogan hoped, got distracted and follows them.

"Ty," Rogan told Tyrone while pointing at a crane nearby. "Get up there and crush this thing with the containers. I'll distract it for you. Go!"

"Right on it." Tyrone agrees to Rogan's plan.

Rogan shoots the creature to distract it from Tyrone. Rogan ran straight while Tyrone ran to the left towards the crane. The creature attempts at attacking Rogan, but he quickly shot the creature's neck, stopping its attack. Rogan quickly traverses the tight corridors of the maze, trying to outrun the creature. The creature soon followed him, driving it away from Tyrone.

Meanwhile, Tyrone attempts to find a way towards the crane. He continues to run, traversing the increasingly convoluted pathway.

A loud shout suddenly heard from behind. "HEY!", followed by gunshots. Tyrone quickly hides behind a container and prepares his gun. Tyrone looks behind the container and saw Kate and Mikaela, with their guns drawn out. Tyrone lets out a sigh and gets out of the container.

"Guys. Please. You're giving me a heart attack and nearly killed me!" Tyrone told them. "Put it down!"

"A-ahh, sorry." Mikaela felt awkward for shooting him earlier and puts down her gun.

"Where's Rogan?" Kate asks.

"He's distracting that creature. He told me to crush the creature with the-"

They suddenly heard gunshots, followed by a monstrous roar of pain. They can hear Rogan yelling from afar. "You want some more, huh? Here! I got plenty for you!"

"It's Rogan," Kate told Tyrone. "I have to help him."

"Alright, you guys help him, I'll go up that crane!" Tyrone told them. Kate and Mikaela nod in agreement and ran to the right. Kate and Mikaela traverse through the increasingly confusing maze. They could hear the sound of gunshots nearby. They're close to the source, but when they tried to go further, the sounds began to fade.

"Where did he go..." Kate tries to figure out Rogan's location as they ran.

Mikaela told Kate with confidence. "I think he's close b-"

Mikaela suddenly stopped talking. Kate also slowed down and kept silent. To their surprise, they found a group of creatures while traversing the corridors. Some were citizens got infected and turned, but others look somewhat wet, covered in moss and looks pretty similar to each other. Kate and Mikaela immediately knew what they're facing against. They quickly opened fire to the horde, killing every creature in sight. They quickly went through the bloodied corridor and quickly followed the sounds. Kate and Mikaela quickly traverse the maze. They soon encounter more creatures but they killed them easily. They can hear gunshots behind and in front of them. They continue to run, trying to figure out Rogan's location. They come across an intersection. Kate and Mikaela looked around as they felt lost and confused.

"Argh... Where is he?" Mikaela complained. "This maze is killing me."

The ground starts to shake lightly. Kate looked at her right and saw Rogan running away. Behind him, the creature is chasing him.

"C' mon boy! Good boy!" Rogan mocks the creature.

Kate immediately opened fire and caught Rogan by surprise. "Hey!"

The creature got distracted and starts chasing them instead. They ran as fast as they could. The creature tries to bite them, but they barely able to avoid it. Kate shoots its neck, slowing it down for a while. Kate and Mikaela make a turn to the left. Coincidentally, they came across and reunited with Rogan.

"Kate, Mikaela, what are you doing?!" Rogan asks them while running. "I told you to run away!"

"Saving your ass," Kate said. "What the hell are you planning anyway?"

"I have a plan, but I'm not sure if it's going to work."

"And how does the plan work?" Mikaela chimed in.

"We're gonna crush this thing," Rogan said. He then takes out his PDA and calls Tyrone. "Ty, you're up there already?!"

"Almost there, Rogan," Tyrone replied while climbing up the crane. "I need a bit more time."

"Alright, just get up there safely, I-"

The creature suddenly ambushes them and is running towards them. Kate quickly shoots its neck before the creature attacks. The creature fell back, allowing them to turn around and ran away quickly.

"We'll give you time, just get up there!" Rogan said to Tyrone in a hurry before he hung up. He then turns to Kate and Mikaela. "We have to bait him as long as we can!"

"He's right," Kate said. "We have to buy Tyrone some time. C'mon!"

"This way!" Rogan leads the team and turns to the right. The creature followed them closely from behind.

Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela tried to hold the creature back. As the creature comes close, they shower it with bullets, forcing the creature to fall back. When they had the chance, they try to hide and outrun the creature. Though they always got spotted by the creature, it's more than enough time for Tyrone to take control of the crane. As Rogan, Kate and Mikaela ran from corridor to corridor, they looked up and saw the crane nearby moving.

"Perfect timing!" Kate said.

The crane holds on one of the containers. The crane moves its arm in a pendulum motion, with the container work as a makeshift wrecking ball. The creature continues to chase them, oblivious to the attack that's about to happen.

"Here I go!" Tyrone told Rogan and the others through the PDA.

"Alright, get down!" Rogan told Kate and Mikaela.

Rogan, Kate and Mikaela ducks as the container swings around and hits the creature in the back. The creature roars in pain as it stumbled and fell to the ground. The container broke down to large metal pieces.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Tyrone muttered.

Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela shoot the creature while it's down, hurting the creature badly. The creature lets out a monstrous roar as blood comes out of his body. Mikaela shoots the creature and knocks it down again, allowing Rogan, Mikaela, and Kate to get away.

"Ty, again!" Rogan orders Tyrone.

"On it," Tyrone said. He moves the crane and gets a hold of another container. He pulls the trolley upwards, and lift the container up in the air. He then positioned itself and waited, ready to drop it to the ground.

"I'm ready, Rogan. Just say the word." Tyrone said.

Rogan, Mikaela, and Kate traverse through the corridors, killing every undead they encounter. They tried to bait the creature into the trap Tyrone made. The creature continues to chase after them in a more aggressive nature. A couple of times they nearly met their doom by the creature's ambush but they quickly shot neck and slow it down before it could lay a bite on their skin. They continue to run until they managed to arrive at the trap. Rogan calls Tyrone, telling him to go on.

"Now!" Rogan told him.

"Eat this," Tyrone said before pressing a button. The trolley dropped the container and fell. The container, weigh around 200 kilograms, hits directly on the unsuspecting creature. The dust fades away, revealing a huge dent in the container. The creature is seen crushed under the container, seemingly killed. Blood slowly coming out from its head.

"Did we do it?" Mikaela asks.

The creature suddenly opened its eyes. It gets up and quickly freed himself. Instead of chasing Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela, the creature instead gets up and attacks the crane. The creature bites the trolley and pulled it down. On the cab, Tyrone could feel the crane began to tilt slightly. He tried to get rid of the creature by moving the arm, but the creature holds on and continues to climb upward. The arm began to dent due to the creature's weight.

"Oh, I'm in deep shit..." Tyrone muttered.

"Oh my god, he's attacking the crane." Mikaela gasps.

"Tyrone, get the hell out of there!" Kate screamed.

Tyrone attempts to get out, but the creature shakes the crane, causing Tyrone to have difficulty in escaping. Rogan, Mikaela, and Kate tried to distract the creature by shooting at it, but the creature stays focused and unswayed, continuing to climb up. The arm begins to bend due to the creature's weight. The crane's support pillars began to crack and break. The crane leans forward, unable to stay upright. Tyrone tried to climb down, but the tower begins to bend. The creature climbs up to the arm, and the support pillars slowly reach its breaking point. The crane leans towards Rogan and the others.

"The crane is about to collapse. Run, NOW!" Rogan told Kate and Mikaela. They all soon ran in panic.

Rogan, Mikaela, and Kate quickly traverse the corridors, desperately trying to get out from harm's way. They looked up and saw the creature crawling on the arm. They saw Tyrone struggling to climb down the crane.

"Ty!" Mikaela shouted.

The crane's support pillars couldn't hold on anymore, and the crane collapses, falling right down to the ground below. Rogan, Mikaela, and Kate ran as fast as they could to avoid getting crushed. They got out just in time before the crane hits the ground and crushes them. Dust and smoke envelop the entire area. Rogan coughs as he tried to see through the smoke. He saw Mikaela and Kate, just a few feet away from him, slowly get back up on their feet. They looked at the wreckage in shock. He then turns around and saw the crane itself, destroyed and completely totaled. Rogan tried to call out Tyrone's name, trying to confirm whether he survived the fall. Even though in his mind he thought that survival is unlikely, he proceeds to call out his name.

"Ty?!" Rogan shouted. "Ty, you're there?!"

There is no response. Mikaela and Kate grief in silence while Rogan shook his head.

"Argh..." A voice can be heard. Kate and Mikaela look around and saw Tyrone nearby the wreckage. There is a piece of metal stuck onto his chest. Kate and Rogan quickly ran towards Tyrone and tried to get him back up. Blood gushes out of his body as he pulls the metal out of his chest. As Rogan carries him away from the wreckage, the creature, alive, gets up from the wreckage and roared.

"It's still alive?!" Mikaela said.

"Keep it busy for me!" Rogan yelled. Kate and Mikaela opened fire to the creature while Rogan painstakingly carries Tyrone away from the creature. Rogan takes him to a nearby wall and puts him down. Tyrone sits as he slowly dying from his wounds.

"It's over." Tyrone struggled to speak. "I'm not gonna make it. I'm done."

"Don't give up yet! You can make it. Come on..." Rogan said as he tried to get him back up.

"No, Rogan. It's over for me. I've lost too much blood." Tyrone said before looking at him. "You know it too."

Rogan sighed. He eventually stopped trying and instead accompany him in his final minutes. While facing his imminent death, Tyrone took something out from his jacket and puts it into his coat.

"Give this...to my family," Tyrone said. "Th-they have evacuated two days ago... P-please give this to my sister Gaby, my mama, papa, and my fiancée Angelica... Tell them...I went out with my pal Aaron... and tell them that I... love them very much."

He sat there for a minute, trying to breathe in and out. Rogan could only watch and grief silently as his heartbeat began to fade. He coughs and spits out blood from his face. Even in death, he kept his smile.

"What a day," Tyrone said with a smile. Tyrone just sits there and looks at the distance as he succumbed. Rogan closed his eyes with his palm and lay him down to rest.

Meanwhile, Mikaela and Kate tried to keep the creature at bay. The creature tried to ram them, but Kate shoots its face, distracting the creature down once again. The creature gets back up and roars. Mikaela and Kate aim their guns towards its neck, ready to shoot. The creature quickly lunges towards them. Rogan quickly arrived and shoots the creature's neck, stunning it and stopping the attack.

"What took you so long?" Mikaela asks. Mikaela looks at Rogan's face and quickly understands.

"Oh," Mikaela said in a saddened tone. Kate also understands Rogan's expressions and silently griefs.

"We'll grieve later. We have bigger problems to deal with." Rogan said.

Rogan, Mikaela, and Kate aim at the creature. The creature roars, getting ready to attack. The creature quickly ran and lunges towards them, but Rogan quickly shot its neck, stopping its attack. The creature then ran towards them and tried to slash them with its paws. Mikaela and Kate quickly avoid them, while Rogan gets closer and shoot its exposed neck. The creature roared in pain and retaliates by kicking around furiously. Rogan got hit by the kick and got knocked down. Mikaela and Kate shoot the creature to distract it. The creature quickly turned around and lunges towards Kate. Kate dodges the attack too late and got hit by the creature's arms. Kate fell to the ground. Her chest felt like it got hit by a freight train. Kate groaned in pain as she saw the creature slowly walk towards her

"Alan?" Kate tried to reason with the creature, even though she knew it was useless. "Please stop?!"

The creature didn't listen and prepares to bite her. Kate closes her eyes in fear as the creature attacked.

"No!" Rogan yelled.

"Ugh!"

Kate felt something spilling over her clothes. Kate slowly opens her eyes and saw her hands covered in blood. She then looked up. Her eyes widen. She tried to talk but the shock overwhelmed her.

"E-excuse me, l-let me borrow this." A woman said.

"M-M-Mikaela?" Kate stuttered.

Mikaela simply smiled. Blood covered all over her body. She takes the last grenade Kate had and pulls the pin. She turned back and shoves the grenade to the creature's head

"H-here's a present for you," Mikaela said. She then pushes Kate away from the creature.

The grenade explodes, disorienting the creature. Mikaela and Kate got knocked down by the blast. The creature roared in pain as it walks in a disorganized manner. The creature then falls down nearby the wrecked crane. The fall damages the crane's intact fuel tank. Oil slowly leaking from the tank. The engines kept running and create fire sparks. Rogan shoots the engine causing it to explode. The oil got lit and sets the creature on fire. Kate, Rogan, and Mikaela got up as the creature roared in pain. The flame engulfs the entirety of its body. The creature slowly morphs back to Alan. Rogan, Kate, and Mikaela could only watch as Alan fell to his knees and screamed in agony. Kate tried to help him, but Rogan stopped her. Kate understands it's for the greater good and reluctantly let him burn to death.

As the fire rages on, Alan slowly crawls out of the fire. He looks almost unrecognizable. Almost all of his skin was burned off, revealing a part of his flesh. The burns were so severe his bones became a bit visible. Alan extends his disfigured hand, trying to reach her. Kate quickly ran towards him and hold his burnt hands. Kate could feel his heartbeat began to slow down to a crawl. With all the strength he has left, he said his last words.

"I... love... y-you..." Alan said. And with those last words, Alan dies from his wounds. Kate could no longer felt his heartbeat. Kate shed tears in disbelief as she lost another of her comrades.

"Ahh..." Mikaela made a small groan while touching her wounds. There's a large bite mark on her shoulder. Mikaela slowly collapsed to the ground as she slowly loses a lot of blood.

"Mikaela!" Kate quickly helps her friend got back up. "Hang in there!"

"Ah... shit." Mikaela groaned in pain as she speaks.

"No no no no no no..." Kate panicked. "No not now..."

Instead of being worried about her wounds, Mikaela simply smiled and sighs in relief. "Hey, did I look good doing that stunt?..."

"You seriously still be able to make a joke?" Kate genuinely felt irritated.

"Hahahaha...ha..." Mikaela laughs while trying to holding the pain. She then turned towards Rogan. She grabbed and shook his hands.

"Mr. Rogan, it's been fun... working together with you. Still can't believe that I'm actually with the real deal, right in front of my eyes." She said while shed a tear. "I know it's too much to ask, but... allow me..."

She pauses for a moment before continuing. "...allow me... to have a private talk with Kate."

Rogan looks at Mikaela's worsening condition. Rogan couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor woman. He instinctively hugs her. Mikaela was genuinely surprised, but she embraces it. Respecting her pleas, he begins to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Kate asks Rogan. She tried to hold back her tears.

"I'll look around and find a car. You guys just... um, stay." Rogan said. He then walks away from them, leaving only Kate and Mikaela around.

"Ugh..." Mikaela winced. Kate quickly noticed it.

"Let's get you up, come on," Kate said.

"No, Kate... No. There's... something I want to say." Mikaela insisted.

"Let's get you someplace to sit down first," Kate said. She assists Mikaela and slowly helped her walk. The pair walked towards a warehouse. Kate helps her sit down on a side of the wall, outside the warehouse. Kate squats and saw just how deep Mikaela got bitten. Mikaela continues to bleed. Her skin slowly got pale. Blood continues to flow out of her shoulders.

"No no no no, stay with me... Stay with me..." Kate said. "Stay with me, Mik."

"Listen... Kate." Mikaela struggled to speak. "I just want to say that... that... that I'm glad I have a great friend like you..."

"No, don't say this." Kate tries to hold her tears. "Not now, Mik."

"When I joined the AMS years ago... I had no friends, alone, weak. Then... I got paired up with you back during Insight days, and you... lift me during my lowest..." Mikaela continued regardless. "Y-you gave me a chance to shine when no one did, you trusted me when no one believed in me, and you keep pushing me forward, to be what I am now, and I really can't thank you enough..."

At that point, Kate couldn't even speak and starts to tear up. "Stop, Mik!" Kate reassuringly grabs her shoulders. "You're not going to die today!"

"Kate..." Mikaela said weakly. "It's too late. I-I've... lost too much blood."

Kate starts to sob. She struggled to speak properly. "No... no... NO!" Kate yelled. "I..I...I don't want to lose another of my friends... I've lost Aaron... I've lost... Ty, and I've lost A-alan. I don't want to lose another one, so please!" Kate starts to hold Mikaela's increasingly cold hand. "Please, stay with me..."

"Kate..." Mikaela shook her head lightly. "You know it yourself... I'm... n-not going to make it."

Kate could only hold Mikaela's hand and cry as she slowly witnesses her friend bleed out.

Mikaela struggled to hold the pain, yet she continues to speak. "Hey, remember back then, when you saved my life, I promised that I will repay you? Guess... we're even now..."

Mikaela can felt her life slowly fading away. With so little time left she had, she patted Kate on the shoulders. She looks at her friend. She instead gives an assuring smile.

"Thank... you, Kate. Thank you... for being... my friend." Mikaela said.

She then lay down and looked towards the sky. The black clouds began to gather. The moon above her slowly engulfed by it. Mikaela sheds a tear before blinking. Kate looked at her and saw Mikaela's closed eyes. Her head slightly tilts to the right. Her hand fell to the ground. Kate tried to shook her, hoping that she would wake up but was met with silence.

A streak of bright white lights crackled against the dark grey sky. Her jacket fluttered in the blowing wind. Tears slowly fell from the sky. One drop. Two drops. Three drops. Lots of drops. Soon the dry concrete ground was covered in moisture. Kate slowly fell to her knees. She was completely drenched in water, yet she didn't care. The sadness overwhelmed her. She looked at her friend's lifeless body. She tried to hold her tears, but she couldn't. Now alone, she unleashes all her emotions and cried in a mix of anger and shock. Her screams of agony can be heard throughout the place. The sky agreed and cried together with her.

After letting out all the emotions he had restrained, Kate saw nothing but grey. The world around her became blurry. Her skin turned pale white. She then fell to the ground, lay down in the mix of sand and water. She saw flashes of her memories: The day when she met her friends and leading them in a fight for the truth. The day when she fell in love, and the day when she felt her heart shattered. The day, when her beloved mentor, gone in a huge bang of light and fire.

Through her blurry eyes, she saw a bright light coming from a distance. A blurry figure from afar ran towards her.

She shed one last tear before the whole world went black.


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5 - REVELATION**

* * *

The young man walks up to his laptop and shows a PDF file on a projector.

"Anyone remember the 2004 Manchester Incident?" The young man asks.

"Yes, I do. What's about it?" The old man said.

The young man scrolls down the page until a certain point.

"What's up about it?" Said a curious man. "It's just a bunch of random text and notes.

"Yes, it does." The young man said. "At first it may seem nothing, but when you take the information at hand and study it extensively, the results are, well, astounding."

The man then shows a video display of a cellular microorganism. "Here are my findings: As you all can see, the cells react to the pathogen in such a remarkable manner. Cells began to multiply in an exponential rate, the cell's durability and regeneration have increased exponentially, and the mitochondria saw an increase of activity by almost threefold."

"So what you're saying is that the research that the professor conducted, inadvertently created a bioweapon?" The old man asks.

"Yes, and it's right there under our noses." The young man said. "So what we have is a pathogen. Highly unstable, dangerous and uncontrollable. What I did, is to tweak and play around with it for a while."

The young man smiled in satisfaction, before taking a briefcase and puts it on the table.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you, the very solution to all those problems." The young man said. He then opens the briefcase. A dark red light glows within the dim-lit room. The people in the room begin to talk to each other and expressed their curiosity.

"Even with the pathogen you've made, what could possibly make it better than any of our creations?" A pessimistic woman suddenly asks the man. "Other than increased durability and regeneration, I don't think there's else to it."

"Allow me to explain, ma'am." The young man said. The man pressed a button on the laptop and a CCTV camera footage plays out.

"Mitochondria is what was called the "power source" of an organism. They control the cell's energy, life, and death. It is believed, however, that the mitochondria are in fact, a separate organism, achieving a symbiotic relationship with the early cellular life, and has evolved into a cell organelle with no independent existence. Now, the mitochondria has its own DNA, passed down from a generation to a generation, and these DNA fragments contain millions of data that lasted ever since the beginning. This is untapped potential. It holds unlimited potential for data manipulation, cell regeneration, and cellular regulation. Imagine, if we can manipulate it to our own image, and control it as we wish."

The man then played the video. It shows the footage in a research facility. There's a man tied up and restrained to a chair.

 _"Urgh... What are you doing to me?!" The man spoke in the video._

 _"Don't worry sir. You'll be just fine." A scientist spoke to the man._

 _Just as he said that he injects the man with a syringe. He then walks out of the camera's view and exits the room. Just seconds later, the man starts twitching heavily. The chair shakes heavily. The man yelled at the top of his lungs before fell unconscious. The scientist then came back inside to inspect the man. A door can be heard closing off-screen. The scientist ran off, trying to open the door, but to no avail. His colleagues realized the now-closed door and tried to open the door as well. Panic ensues._

 _"Hey. Hey!" The scientists said to the camera. "What are you doing?!"_

 _"Everyone, I demand your attention." A man spoke over the microphone. "All of you are doing a noble thing. I'm truly grateful to have such amazing people by my side. But sometimes, I have to trust my own instincts. Consider this as a precaution method."_

 _"The door's not opening!" One of his colleagues spoke to him._

 _"Shit!" The scientist said._

 _"I will let you all go. But you all must do me a favor. Now go, wake him up, and I'll open the door."_

 _"Argghh! Schaeffer you fucking shit! Open the goddamn door! I'm no test subject!" The scientist said._

 _There is no response._

 _"Please, just let me out." The scientist begged him and fell to his knees. "All of our families are waiting for us. My wife and kids, they're waiting for me..."_

 _Again. There's no response._

 _The scientist lets out a sigh of despair. He looks at his colleagues, desperate to leave. One of them looks at him and nods at him. Without a choice, he said his prayers. He has embraced his fate and approaches to the unconscious man. He walks carefully to the unconscious body. He could feel something is wrong with the man._

 _"...H-hey." The scientist carefully spoke. "Y-you okay? Are you feeling good?"_

 _The scientist carefully touched the man on his chest. He seems to be breathing normally. He looked at his monitor and shows a stable heart condition. The scientist then tried to open the man's eyes. He opens his right eye and shines his flashlight. The man suddenly opens its eyes. He suddenly grabs the scientist on his throat and hurls him to the other side of the room. His colleagues screamed in fear as the man breaks free from his confinement. The scientist coughs heavily from the sudden choke attack. The man breaks free and begins to morph into something monstrous._

 _The scientist quickly gets up and looks at the camera. "Hey! Open the door goddamnit! I did what you've asked!"_

 _There is no response. The door was kept shut. The man, now turned into a beast, attacks his colleagues and wreak havoc within the room. One by one, bodies start to drop. Blood splattered all over the room._

 _"No. No. NO! SCHAEFFER! SCHAEFFER YOU FUCKING-"_

 _The creature lurks behind the scientist. The creature chokes the scientist and throws him to the ceiling, damaging the camera and cutting off the feed. His screams can be heard as the recording ends._

Schaeffer looks around. Everyone seems to be at shock and amazement. He then simply smiled in satisfaction. He looks at the old man, to which he responds with a small nod of approval.

Schaeffer replied with a small but assuring smile. Evil lurks beneath it.

* * *

 _ **March 13, 2011**_

 _ **00.02**_

"Kate." A voice said to her. "Wake up."

Kate was reluctant to wake up, but something is forcing her to do so.

"Wake up!" Said the voice again.

Slowly, Kate wakes up from her deep slumber. She found herself sitting in a car. The heater is turned on, facing her. A dim yellow light illuminates the car. She looks around and found herself covered with a brown trenchcoat. She then looks to her left and saw no one on the driver's seat. The door was open. She gets out of the car and felt the cold wind blowing to her face. She looks around, deducing that she's somewhere within a parking garage. The garage itself is pretty desolate, with several cars left behind and abandoned. Some of the lights on the garage flicker on and off occasionally.

"Finally, you're awake." Said a man.

Kate turned to the left and saw Rogan, leaning against the nearby railing. He seems to enjoy the breeze, staring at somewhere at the distance while drinking something from a small bottle. Kate walks towards the railings after a moment of consideration.

"Feeling better now?" Rogan asked.

"A bit..." Kate simply said. She gives back Rogan's coat and he casually wears it back. Rogan could felt that Kate is still shaken by what happened on the port.

"Want some?" Rogan asked Kate as he offers her the bottle.

Kate takes the bottle and takes a sip. She quickly spits it out due to its odd taste.

"Pffttt! What's this?" Kate asks Rogan while wiping her mouth. "What a weird aftertaste... Is this... Some kind of tea?"

"No, it's Vodka," Rogan said, before realizing something. "Wait. You never drink one?"

"Alcoholic drink in general," Kate told Rogan as she gives him back his bottle while coughing a bit.

"Huh, should have bought cola instead..." Rogan said. He takes a drink from the bottle, before offering Kate again.

"Another sip?" Rogan asked.

"Uh..." Kate takes another shot from the bottle. After making some weird faces due to the foreign alcohol taste, she raises her eyebrows a bit and nods.

"Well... It does taste a bit better now." Kate makes a faint smile.

Rogan smiled as the two share the contents of the bottle together. The two then silently looks into the distance. The sky is still gloomy, with rain still pouring down, the winds blowing strong, and the thunders still crackle within the clouds. They can see the remains of the DC area: silent streets, flickering lights, abandoned skyscrapers with the lights still on, and thick black smoke that can be seen from afar.

After a while, Kate began to speak.

"...Rogan." Kate said. "...do you believe in 'fate'?"

"Hmm?" Rogan asked.

"Do you ever felt that all of this isn't just a coincidence, but rather something that was certainly going to happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"The outbreak, the death of my friends, Schaeffer's betrayal, do you ever think that all of this was meant to happen? As if someone has engineered everything in motion for this to happen?"

Rogan thought about the question. He looks slightly confused.

"It's a silly question, I know." Kate quickly told Rogan. "Best to not think about-"

"What makes you think that way?" Rogan asked Kate.

"Huh?"

"I just wonder how you had such thoughts," Rogan explains. "You probably have experienced something, that made you question such things. Bad experiences? Horrible incidents? Or...?"

"Well... I once asked this to James back when we were still trapped in that basement." Kate slowly explains. "He did give me an answer but... I still don't understand it..."

Rogan nods in understanding.

"...but that's not really the reason why I think about it." Kate suddenly said. "I have a horrible past, that's... true. It... made me question it ever since."

"It's okay," Rogan said. "You don't need to explain if it's too painful for you..."

Kate took a moment of silence and doubt. She took a deep sigh before she spoke.

"I was born with a silver spoon." Kate starts to explain. "The daughter of a well-known hotel entrepreneur and a prestigious fashion designer. The youngest of the two sisters, blah blah blah. You probably already read my file back then. You probably wondered, why a rich, sophisticated woman joined the AMS when she could have a much better life as a model?"

Kate stops for a moment before she continued.

"It all started that day."

"That... day?" Rogan asks.

"February 26... 2000," Kate said.

Rogan quickly recognized the date. "...The 2000 Goldman Incident."

"Yeah." Kate nods. "I was on a field trip to a neighboring city when the outbreak happened... The city was locked down, quarantined, so I'm stuck right there, unable to go home... When I came back days later, I saw police gather around my apartment. Then I saw so many body bags, taken and carried away from the apartment."

Kate stops for a moment. She tried to control her emotions before continuing. "There's one policeman who came to me. He suddenly asked my name. I told him my full name. He looks at a list, and then... He takes off his hat, takes me away from the crowd, and explained what happened. At that moment I realized, that among the body bags, are my family. They're gone. My mom... My dad... My sister... They're all gone... Bite marks all over their bodies. Blood all over my apartment. Damn chunks of flesh just lying around."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Rogan said to Kate.

"For weeks, no, months, I didn't attend my classes. When my friends have moved on, I didn't. I stayed in my room, crying like a little bitch, until you people appeared at my university hall, to help us recover." Kate continued as she tried to hold her tears. "Since then I've made my point. After I graduated, I will join among your ranks, to fight and protect others, so that people would no longer suffer the same fate as I have. Yet, here I am, crying like a bitch, again. I just... I just... can't stop thinking about it."

At that moment Kate broke down to tears. Rogan hugs Kate and tries to calm her down.

"Hey, it's okay." Rogan said, "Take a deep breath, and calm down."

Kate cried. "How much more should I suffer? How much more of my sanity must I forfeit for the better good? Or... has everything that I have done... was futile? All those years working with the AMS... Is it all for nothing?"

Rogan looks at Kate as she cried on his shoulders. He understands her pain very well, as he once thought he had lost Sophie during the Curien Mansion Incident. That taste of despair and hopelessness engraved in his memory. He knew he had to do something. After Kate had calmed down, Rogan takes the opportunity and began to ask her.

"Let me ask you a question," Rogan said to her. "What do you believe in?"

"Huh?"

"Alright, let me change the question for you: What did James tell you before his death?"

"... Before he died, he told me 'to never give up-" Her tearful eyes widen. "... 'hope'."

"Hope. James told you to 'not give up hope'. Okay, so why you've given up hope now?"

Kate simply kept her mouth shut.

"You have doubts about yourself. You let the grief and the pain went out of control. You still have uncertainty in your mind, as if somewhere, deep inside, there's a tiny fraction of you who don't believe what you were told to do years ago." Rogan continued. "So tell me, Kate, have you really understand what he was saying before he died? Have you... Truly doing his advice, or was it just some empty words that came out of your mouth?"

Again, Kate stays silent.

"Tell me, Kate," Rogan said. "Kate!"

"I don't... know," Kate said with her cracked voice. More tears fell from her cheeks. "Hell, I probably never knew all along."

Rogan sighed. "There's a saying that I always remember from my father. He said to me: 'The world is full of uncertainty. One day, there will be a time where you must make a decision that you don't even know if it's the correct choice. You must believe in yourself because no one knows you better than yourself'. I still believe those words till this day."

Rogan continued. "That day, when James sacrifices himself, he told you to 'never give up hope'. If you truly believe in his words, then you should stick with it, and fight for it. Believe in yourself, Kate. If you believe what you did is right, then fight for it and do what you can do. You understand?"

Kate looks at Rogan. She has calmed down. She didn't speak a word but makes a small nod nonetheless.

"That's better." Rogan makes a faint smile. He walks away from Kate and heading towards the car.

Kate stays at the railings and starts contemplating about Rogan's words. She shed some tears but quickly wipes it off her cheeks. She looks up at the sky. The rain stopped and the wind slowly calmed down.

A honk quickly snaps her out of the limbo. She turns around and saw Rogan was waiting for him. The car is on and Rogan was ready to leave. Rogan looks out of the window and said to Kate.

"Come on, Kate. Let's go. You have a chopper to catch."

* * *

Rogan drives Kate to Reagan National Airport. The airport seems abandoned, with cars left behind, lights went out, and the doors seemingly kept shut. Rogan drives off-road, breaking through the security barrier and drives through the abandoned runaway.

As the car passes through the building, Kate looks through the glass wall and saw hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people, turned and craving for flesh. The glass wall itself is stained red with blood. She can see several of them feast upon the dead bodies on the floor. Some of them noticed the car and starts banging the glass, trying to join and chase them. Rogan didn't bat an eye and continues to drive.

After a while, Rogan stopped the car in front of an open hangar.

"Hey, Kate," Rogan said. "Give me your PDA."

Kate gives him her PDA. Rogan typed something on the number pad. He then gave back the PDA to Kate. Kate looked at the screen and was greeted with a phone number on her dialer.

"This is your ticket out of here," Rogan explains. "First, you made the call and identify yourself. Tell him your name, location and tell him that you're a 'fellow partner of mine'. Don't use honorifics like 'mister' or 'sir'; anything but being polite really, because if you do that help won't come. You understand?"

Kate didn't speak a word.

"Kate?" Rogan asks. "Are you even listening?"

"...and what about you?" Kate asked.

"Like I said. I'm heading to HQ. I have some unfinished business to attend."

"...Take me there," Kate said.

"What?"

"Take me to HQ. I'm coming with you."

"No, I can't let you get involved any further. You've suffered way too much. I fear your sanity Kate, I do. I'm sorry Kate, I can't."

"No. Take me to the HQ. I must see the end of it. Schaeffer must be stopped."

"I know, Kate, but you're done here. You've suffered enough, I'm not going to let you get through this any longer. Leave it to me, and I'll finish this-"

"No. No. No! I'm coming with you, Rogan. I have to help you." Kate insisted.

Rogan sighed and pinches his forehead. After thinking for a moment, Rogan asked Kate.

"Give me a reason," Rogan said. "Give me one good reason why you want to help. Go."

"...Because I have to." Kate said. "You said it yourself: I have to start believing in myself, and my feelings told me, to stay and help, and that's what I'm going to do, because if I make the call and escape, and you don't make it out, then I would regret it for the rest of my life."

Kate then gives a reassuring look to Rogan. Her eyes are filled with anger. She clenched her fists. "I've lost my family, my mentor, my friends, and my love. I have nothing more to lose. Which is why I'm here to stay, to do what I supposed to do: fight back. Schaeffer must be stopped, now. Even if I die today, I'm going to make sure that he's going down with me."

Rogan thought about her words for a while. He then nods in understanding as he makes a faint smile. "I see. Very well."

Rogan then looks behind his seat and took something from the back.

"Welcome back, agent," Rogan said as he takes Kate's SMG from the back and gives it back to Kate. "Glad to have you back."

Kate smiled as she takes back her gun. She looks at her trusty gun and grips its handle. She felt very comfortable with the grip. She pulls the bolt handle. A sound indicating a loaded bullet in its chamber can be heard. Kate looks at Rogan. Her eyes were filled with determination and rage. After a small sigh, Kate said to Rogan three simple words.

"Let us begin."

Rogan looks at Kate and nods in agreement.

* * *

Rogan slows down the car after a long drive back to DC. He stops the car carefully, parking it amongst the abandoned cars. In front, was a clear view of the AMS Headquarters. Kate and Rogan get out of the car and looks from the distance. Kate takes binoculars from a dead soldier nearby, wipes the lenses and have a look through it.

"Well, this is clearly not the same building that I left behind years ago..." Rogan said.

"Yeah." Kate nods in agreement. "I mean, searchlights? Armored vehicles? Heavily armed soldiers? Who are these people? What are they doing here?"

"Seems like they're using our HQ as their base of operations." Rogan notices. "Look, they're taking out crates out of the truck."

Kate looks around and notices the letterings in one of the crates. "...Property of the... US Army?"

"What?" Rogan quickly took the binoculars and have a look. He looks flustered and shocked. "How on earth they get that?"

While they're looking, Kate noticed the searchlight coming towards them. Kate quickly alerts Rogan and they quickly hide behind the car.

"So now what?" Kate asks.

"We have to break in," Rogan said. "There's evidence that'll prove his wrongdoings somewhere inside. Once we get those evidence, we're getting outta here, then we'll give the evidence to the President. International manhunt. Schaeffer gets captured. Happy ending for everyone."

"I was expecting the words 'Killing Schaeffer' among your to-do list..." Kate genuinely sounds disappointed.

The lights went by and gone from their view. Kate and Rogan get out from their hiding spot.

"Now the real question is, how are we going to get in?" Kate continued.

Rogan looks around with the binoculars, before noticing something. "Well, we can get through the front entrance, ambush them, Rambo style, but we'll be gunned down the moment we break-in. There's also the side entrance on the far right, but there are guards too."

Rogan gives Kate the binoculars and lets Kate have a look. Kate then notices something. "Or... We're getting in through that."

Kate gives back the binoculars to Rogan and points to a small path beside the main building, heading towards the underground parking lot. "We're getting in through there. Surely there's not much security down there, right?"

Rogan looks at Kate. She seems pretty confident. "You sure about this? Once we get in there's no turning back. We might not survive this one."

"...Maybe." Kate said with a hesitant smile. "Not even sure if that could work..."

Rogan thinks for a moment before settling for it. He nods and smiled. "'When in doubt, head left,' they say..." Rogan then looks at Kate. "Alright, let's do it."

Kate nods in agreement. They get back into the car. Rogan slowly drives the car away before the searchlight came to their location again. They slowly traversing the abandoned streets while trying not to provoke the creatures roaming around the area. They took a right and heads to a straight path, leading directly towards the AMS Headquarters underground parking lot, a path only blocked by a partially open security fence.

"You ready to do this?" Rogan asked.

"I'm ready all the way," Kate assures him. "Time to finish this all night long-suffering."

"Here we go," Rogan said while revving the engine. "I just hope he's up there, just so I can go home earlier."

Rogan hits the accelerator and the car quickly gaining speed. Rogan ever so slightly shifted gears to increase the car's speed. As the car quickly approaching the fence at breakneck speed, Rogan quickly buckles up his seatbelt. Kate notices Rogan and quickly buckled up for her safety. Kate also grabs into the roof handle on top of her.

The car drives at a very fast speed, quickly approaching the fence. Rogan quickly prayed and with a deep breath, shifted the last of the gears, as the car quickly approaching a boom barrier.

"Hold on!" Rogan exclaimed.

The car bust the barrier over, and head straight to the underground parking lot. Rogan continues to hit the gas and kept moving forward. The soldiers who were taken aback by the surprise attack quickly jumped out of the way. The car hits one of the soldiers who were unaware and crashes through the glass door in front of them, shattering it to pieces.

The soldiers quickly regain focus and' starts shooting at the car. Rogan quickly shifted gears and hits the reverse pedal. The soldiers quickly avoid the car as Rogan tries to ram them. Kate gets out of the window and shoots the soldiers. Rogan quickly turned the steering wheel and hits a soldier, knocking him to a nearby pillar.

Rogan looks back and saw two cars drive around the parking lot and form a barricade in front of the underground entrance. More soldiers came and shoot the car.

"Kate, get ready to bail!" Rogan said as he hits the gas again and drives towards the barricade. The car goes through the barricade and blocks the entrance.

Rogan gets out of the car with a small wobble. Kate gets out of the other side, and vaults through the hood.

"C' mon!" Rogan helped Kate get back on her feet as they head inside. Kate quickly shoots two guards that showed up in front of them. She looks to the right and saw more soldiers coming towards their way through the metal door. She quickly takes cover before she was shot down by the soldiers.

"How many?" Rogan asked.

"I count ten, maybe more," Kate replied.

"Shit," Rogan exclaimed as he shoots the soldier behind the wall.

Kate examined the dead soldier right beside her and found several metal balls with a hexagonal button on their belts. She took one of them with a code "FB" imprinted on one side of the button and pressed it. The button begins to light up with a neon white color, with a beep sound that quickly became faster. Kate quickly realized what she's holding.

"Get back!" Kate quickly pushed Rogan away and throws the ball to the soldiers behind the wall. A flash can be seen, followed by a deafeningly loud bang. Knowing that it's their chance, Rogan quickly gets out of the cover and shoots the stunned soldiers.

"H-holy crap," Kate said while expressing shock and amazement. She quickly checks and took the other grenade balls from the dead soldiers. "Seems they got their hands on some military-grade tech. They're well prepared for this." Rogan said while inspecting their bodies. He took some of the grenades as well.

Kate looks at the metal door in front of them. The door was locked and can only be unlocked by using an AMS Keycard. Kate took out her keycard and swipes it through the scanner. However the lights on the scanner went red, and the door won't open. Kate swipes the card again but the door still won't open. Kate tried to shoot the door down but the bullets only deal a small crack on it.

Kate kicks the door in frustration. "Damn! I knew he would do something like this."

"Hang on, let me try this." Rogan searches through his pockets takes out a red keycard from his coat

Rogan was hesitant and nervous. He repeatedly muttered the words "Please be working" before he swipes the card. The lights on the scanner went dark for a moment before eventually turned green. The door opens and leads them to a long hallway.

"I-it worked!" Kate smiled in slight disbelief.

"Hopkins, I owe you one!" Rogan chuckled.

"H-how did you?"

The conversation got cut short as more soldiers coming in front of them. Kate quickly raises her gun and shoots the guards before they shoot.

"It's a long story, but not now, we have work to do," Rogan said as he moves forward. Kate agreed and follows Rogan from behind. Rogan noticed several car keys hanging on one of the key holders and took one of them. The two explore the long hallway, before stopping at the nearby elevator. Rogan pressed the button, and there they wait for the elevator to arrive.

"You know that we might probably die, right?" Rogan asks. "This is literally a suicide mission."

"I know," Kate said. "But honestly, I don't care anymore. I will go to great lengths to stop-"

"There they are!" A man yelled, suddenly cutting the conversation.

"GET THEM!" Another man yelled.

Kate and Rogan looked to their left and saw the soldiers have spotted them. Kate buys some time by firing at them, forcing them to take cover. The soldiers tried to shoot them but Kate and Rogan hid behind a pillar and take cover.

"C' mon... Hurry up..." Rogan said while continues to open fire towards the soldiers.

The elevator arrived. Kate quickly gets inside while Rogan continues to shoot at the soldiers.

"C' mon Rogan, get in!" Kate said.

Rogan pulls out one of the grenade balls and throws it towards the soldiers before getting in. Just as the doors closing, a bright flash can be seen followed by an ear-piercing bang. Rogan pressed the 15th-floor button, leading them towards the office quarters.

Kate reloads her gun as the elevator slowly reaches the 15th floor. During the wait, Kate continued.

"As I said before, I have to help you. If you don't make it out alive, I will regret my decision for the rest of my life. Besides, I want to see him die, by my own eyes. "

"Didn't know you have a sadistic side," Rogan said jokingly.

"Shutup." Kate chuckled and jokingly hits Rogan in the arm.

The door opens, and they arrived at the offices. To their left is a glass door which leads them to a room with rows and rows of office desks filled with documents. On the right of that room is a large meeting room with a long rectangular table in the center, and several smaller locked rooms. At the far end of the room is a small flight of stairs leading towards a hallway, which Schaeffer's office is located. Rogan swipes the card and enters the room. Kate follows him right behind. The room felt eerily silent.

"Something's not right," Rogan mumbled as he readies his shotgun.

As he passes one of the office rows, a soldier ambushes Rogan by tackling him, crashing through the meeting room. Meanwhile, more soldiers came out from their hiding spots and attempt to shoot Kate. Kate hides on one of the desks as bullets fly in all directions.

"It's an ambush!" Kate yelled through the gunfire.

"Split up!" Rogan said while fighting hand to hand with the soldier.

Kate ran through the bullet hail, randomly shooting through the flying papers and plastic shards. Kate stopped and hid behind a corner. Kate took a peek and saw three of the soldiers coming towards her, unaware of her presence nearby. Kate ambushes them by shooting one of them and uses him as a shield. She shoots another soldier and takes his combat knife. Ditching the body she uses for protecting herself, she throws the knife to the last soldier, hitting him in the head. She suddenly got ambushed by another soldier, who knocks her down through a small office room. Knocked down, Kate struggles to fight back as she slowly choked to death by the soldier. With her SMG too far away from her, Kate grabs her pistol and shoots the soldier in the ear, deafening him. Using her legs, she chokes the soldier back, this time cracking his neck, killing him.

Meanwhile, Rogan punches the soldier and knocks him down. He quickly hid behind the table as three other soldiers came after him with shotguns and rifles at hand. Having accidentally dropped his shotgun, he took out his combat knife and stabs the nearby soldier. He then uses his rifle to shoot down the other soldiers. He then suddenly locked in a chokehold by the knocked downed soldier. Rogan fights back by deliberate hitting the wall, breaking free of the grasp. He then slams him to the table and hits his head, cracking his neck. Another soldier suddenly jumps through the table and kicks Rogan in the face. Rogan grabs a nearby vase and throws it to the soldier. The two wrestles with each other, with Rogan trying to stab the soldier while the soldier itself tried to choke Rogan to death. Rogan manages to exhaust the soldier, pinned him down and stabs the soldier multiple times in the neck, finally killing him.

Rogan regains his composure and takes his shotgun back. He quickly took cover after saw more soldiers coming after him. Rogan shoots some of the soldiers, and quickly take cover. Rogan looks from where they came and notices the elevator doors are open. Panicked, Rogan quickly ran as reinforcements have arrived. Rogan ran and hid behind a table. In front of him is Kate, also hiding nearby.

"Hey! How's going?" Rogan asked.

"Not good. Not good at all!" Kate said as she shoots through the wall in hopes of killing some of the soldiers. The soldiers notice her and shoot through her cover, which she quickly evades and moves to another cover.

"Ah, damn it," Rogan yelled. He breathes in and out, before shoots the soldiers with the shotgun. He shoots several soldiers before using his shotgun as a makeshift bat, hitting the remaining soldiers in the face. One of them soldiers tackles him but Rogan slams the soldier's face to the wall and cracked his neck. Another soldier tried to stab him but Rogan evades his swings, and disarms the soldier, dropping the knife and slides it away from him. While the soldier is disarmed, he attacks the other soldier and deflects his shots to another soldier, killing him. He then kicks him through the nearby glass, knocking him down.

Kate attacks the remaining soldiers using close-quarter combat. She quickly disarmed the soldiers and evade their shots. Kate punches one of the soldiers in the face, knocking him unconscious. Using that soldier's gun, she shoots one of them, wasted all the bullets in the magazine, before throws the gun to another soldier, hitting his head. One of the soldiers tackles and knocks her down, once again trying to kill her by choking. Kate notices a knife slid through nearby, which she quickly grabs it and stabs it to his head, killing him. Noticing a soldier getting his hands on a rifle on the floor, she quickly takes back the knife and throws it to him, stabbing his chest. Still alive, the soldiers fires his rifle, in which Kate quickly hid behind the unconscious soldier, killing him. She gets up and avoid's getting shot, using the body of the soldier as a shield. She shoots him on the arm, takes back the knife and hacks him to death.

Kate and Rogan looked around them and saw the mess they've made. Glass shards and bits of paper scattered all over the place. Thousands of bullets were fired, leaving holes and its shell behind. There's blood all over the place. Bodies of dead soldiers are there to tell the tale.

"How many did we kill?" Kate asked. She tried to catch her breath, completely exhausted by the fight.

"I don't know... Maybe 20?" Rogan said, also worn out by the fight.

Kate quickly draws her gun and shoots a soldier who got back up from the window, killing him.

"Make that 21..." Kate said.

Rogan was suddenly ambushed by another knocked down soldier, who tried to choke him. Rogan flips him over and knocks him down again. Rogan and Kate quickly draw out their guns. Cornered, the soldier fell on his knees and surrendered.

Rogan sighed.

"C' mon, there's more jobs better than this..." Rogan pulls the soldier up and provokes the scared soldier by faking his punch. The soldier flinched and ran away in fear.

"And don't come back!" Kate said as he ran away.

Rogan and Kate look towards the hallway in front of them. Schaeffer's office is just at the end of that hallway. No one was seemingly around the room.

"Shall we?" Rogan asked.

"Let's go," Kate said.

The two then made their walk towards Schaeffer's office. They walked through numerous dead bodies, shards of glass and stained papers. As they slowly walk towards Schaeffer's office, they saw and remember what used to be a building full of remarkable people, fighting for humanity's sake. Rogan looks at his now empty, tidy office, while Kate looks through a room once filled with joy and laughter, where everyone comes together for a break and tells their most absurd stories.

"FREEZE!" a man screaming at Rogan and Kate, snapping them out of their trance.

From behind those rooms came a group of soldiers heavily armed with their finger on the trigger. They all assume a tactical stance, ready to fight against Rogan and Kate.

"And here I thought after all that, this would be a cakewalk," Kate complained.

"Well, when you're chasing after a homicidal traitor-slash-terrorist, I'm honestly not surprised," Rogan said.

Rogan and Kate looked at each other. They gave each other a look as if they know what action they must do.

"Well, here we go again," Kate said.

The two take cover behind the pillars. Everyone opened fire and a gunfight ensues.

* * *

Rogan and Kate enter Schaeffer's office, worn out and out of breath. Behind them is a group of soldiers, either got slain or got shot. There's splatters of blood on the floor and the walls. Some of the soldiers were lucky enough to still alive, groaning in pain as they tried to get up with their broken legs, dislocated arms, and beaten up faces.

"Darn..." Kate looks at her bloodied arm.

"You okay?" Rogan asks.

"It's just a small cut. I'll be fine." Kate assures him. She then walks to the corner and grabs a box of first aid kit.

Rogan walks towards Schaeffer's desk and sits on his chair. After a while, he plugs in his phone and planted a bug into Schaeffer's computer. He begins to hack the computer, breaking through the security systems. He eventually gains access to Schaeffer's computer and begins to decrypting his hidden files.

"Find anything?" Kate asks as she wraps around her wound with a bandage.

Rogan continues to decrypt Schaeffer's files, slowly uncovering his well-kept secrets. After a while, a prompt appeared on the screen.

 **OPEN ALL ATTACHMENTS?**

 **Y/N**

"Yes please," Rogan said as he pressed the Y key.

The computer slowly opens numerous files, banknotes, pictures, and email data that he kept on his computer. Many of them are in the form of written documents. Rogan looks at one of the files, detailing a 30 million dollar cheque for Schaeffer given by someone. Another one of the documents shows the details of the military equipment that will be transported to a location, which. One of the documents found in that computer grab Rogan's attention. He clicks one of the documents, which shows a floor plan of a building highlighted in red markings. Rogan carefully looks at the floor plan and notices the layout being the same as the one in the White House.

"What are you doing, Schaeffer?" Rogan mumbled. "What are you planning to do next?"

While Rogan tries to read through the scribblings on the file, Kate searches Schaeffer's desk. Opening his drawers, she found numerous notes, pictures and files kept inside it. Some of the pictures she found were disturbing enough she closed her mouth trying not to puke. One of the pictures shows a corpse with his arms and feet attached to one side of a wall with nails. His entire stomach was gutted out. Another one of the pictures shows another male corpse tied to a chair, badly burned, with both of his thighs were impaled by two metal poles, with pliers attached to them. His entire body is unrecognizable due to the burn marks all over his body. The third picture, and perhaps the most disturbing of all of them, shows two female corpses with all of their bodies dismembered. Head, arms, legs, chest, everything is separated and each attached to a door with nails, and deliberately put together messily as if they said "Hello" to anyone who saw it. Unable to look at the pictures any longer, she flips the pictures backward, which has the victim's name and the date of death written on it.

"Seems like these scribblings are used for tactical planning- Huh?"

Rogan notices Kate's pale face. He looked at the pictures near her. His shocked face said it all.

"My God," Rogan said.

"Yeah. The worst part is that I know these people." Kate said. Her voice sounds weak. "Plissken, Everett, the Amakura twins... They're all good people, and they're all dead... undeservingly..."

Rogan looks upset. "So not only we're dealing with a traitor, but with a psychopath, huh? Great."

Kate sighed while taking those pictures back to the drawer. Her attention diverts to an old case file on the very bottom of the drawer. Out of curiosity, she took it out and read it through. Most of the text was censored and blacked out. Some of the scribblings were also illegible. As Kate read through the files, one section of the file struck her mind. Her eyes slowly widen.

"This... This is the Manchester Incident files!" Kate said. "Why is it here?!"

Rogan takes the file read it through. There one section that was circled in red. Below it is a handwritten note.

"'This is it. The key to cleanse the world from the old sins.'" Rogan reads. "What does it mean?"

Kate shuffles and looks around his desk again, searching for evidence. A small notebook grabs her attention. She takes the notebook and read some of the pages.

"Oh Schaeffer, you're such a good man..." Kate said. "What happened to you..."

Rogan takes a peek of the notebook. He simply shook his head and groans. There's a hint of disgust in his voice.

"How long he's been planning all of this?" Kate asks Rogan.

"Who knows, probably ever since he stepped foot to this place."

"...Shit. We've been compromised a long time ago, and we just found this out now." Kate shook her head.

"I need to get this. All of it." Rogan said. He enters several commands on the keyboard, and the computer starts downloading all of the files to his phone.

While the files were downloaded. A voice suddenly spoke from the comm systems.

"Well well well, look who's trying to steal my stuff..." The voice said. "Damn rats..."

A notification appears on the computer. Rogan clicked on the notification, and Schaeffer appears in the computer through a video feed.

"You could have just run away, but no, you guys just kept intervene," Schaeffer said.

"Schaeffer," Kate said. "What have you done?"

"What have I done?" Schaeffer said. "Hold on... Oh. You mean those pictures on my desk, I can explain. Y' see, if you haven't got the memo yet, I hate, I _hate_ every one of you who worked on Insight. That moment, when you burned down that building, that night I really, really want to capture all of you and slit your throats open. I hate you all _that_ much."

"Huh, thanks a lot." Kate mumbles.

"And you, Mr. Thomas Rogan, you should have just stay retired and never got involved." Schaeffer continued. "I know you've been looking for Cobalt; looking for me. Seriously, it's not worth the trouble traveling around the world looking for me. I was considering to leave you alone, but since you're getting on my nerves, might as well put my name in the history books, as 'The man who killed Thomas Rogan.'"

"But unlike you, I have nothing to lose," Rogan said. "I'm honestly glad you led me to Ballard Ridge. Thanks to your actions, you took off your mask, revealing your true self to everyone. I'm happy you did, at least I don't need to keep playing this guessing game."

"Besides, I made progress. Massive progress." Rogan continued. "These files are far too important to ignore."

"Heh. It doesn't matter." Schaeffer laughed. "No one will be alive to see those files. There will be no judges and prosecutors left alive to convict me. Those files are useless. You can't capture me. You can't use them to prosecute me. Soon, America will burn to flames, and that would be the end of it. Humanity will be born anew, and you guys will have no place in it. You can't stop the inevitable. It's over. You lose."

Rogan suddenly cracked a smile. Schaeffer looks at him in confusion.

"What's so funny?" Schaeffer asked.

"What if I told you there is someone who will see those files?" Rogan refutes Schaeffer's claims. "What if I told you that these files are indeed useful?"

Rogan looks at Schaeffer, who seems confused. He then looks at Kate, who also seems clueless.

"Here's the thing, Schaeffer." Rogan continued. "I know you're smart, I really do. But, you should have killed me before I even had the chance. You begin to watch my movements when I start my search, but you didn't have a clue about what I did before I began my hunt."

"What?" Schaeffer sounds infuriated.

Rogan smiled. Kate looks at Rogan and seems quite stunned, yet impressed.

"I know one day, scenarios like this would happen; When the one organization dedicated to the safety of mankind turned their backs against the people they protect. So, to prepare for the worst, long before I started, I did this: I made preparations, teaming up with the military, and prepared hundreds, if not thousands of men and women, to thrive, grow and withstand in the worst of times. And I believe it's not just me, but many others across the world, preparing for this in their own ways. One day, we will unite, stand together, and fight back against all you have."

The phone beeps and notifies Rogan that the download is complete. Rogan made an even wider smile. Kate could only sit back and smiled.

"Besides, I didn't just download all the stuff from your computer, but the entire AMS database," Rogan said. "Since the organization is dead, why not share some stuff to those who needed it? I'm sure they'll make good use of them."

Schaeffer became furious. His stressed-out face somehow satisfied Rogan.

"Is this... Your psychology game, Rogan?" Schaeffer tried to calm himself down. "I feel like you're bluffing."

Rogan taunts Schaeffer by showing his phone. "No, I'm afraid not."

Schaeffer's eyes slightly widen, taken aback by the surprise. Kate could only smile in satisfaction.

"So, do I got your attention now? Well, what are you waiting for? Come and get me. Prick." Rogan said. Rogan then takes his shotgun and shoots the computer, blowing it up. Smoke and sparks came out from the computer, destroying it.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Rogan said. Kate nods in agreement and they walked out from Schaeffer's room.

"DAMN YOU ROGAN!" Schaeffer continued to speak through the comm systems. "You're right. I should have killed you when I had the chance!

"Man, he's pissed," Kate commented.

"You're going to pay for this..." Schaeffer angrily yelled. "You cannot get away!"

As Rogan and Kate ran out from Schaeffer's office, they're greeted by numerous soldiers coming towards them. The soldiers opened fire, forcing them to split up and take cover behind a nearby wall.

"Oh come on!" Kate said while shoots behind the wall. "Did that guy tell you guys nothing?!"

The soldiers didn't stop firing. They slowly chipping away the wall. Bits of cement fell to the floor.

"Ah, screw it..." Rogan said. He reloads his shotgun. "GO!"

Rogan and Kate came out from their hiding spot and opened fire. The two fired their guns, killing several soldiers nearby. The two pushed forward and killed several others. Two of the soldiers ambushed them and challenged them to a fistfight. Kate tackles one of the soldiers while Rogan tossed the other soldier through the window. Kate took the soldier's gun and shoots him. She then opened fire to a group of soldiers coming after her. Kate ran to a nearby room and slide through a table, while opened fire to the soldiers, injuring some of them. Kate quickly gets back up and shoots a couple more soldiers. She strikes a soldier with her knee, knocking him down. She took a knife from a killed soldier and stabs a soldier before stabs the knife again to the knocked soldier and stomps it, piercing it through the heart, killing him instantly.

Meanwhile, Rogan shoots down a soldier before he opened fire through a group of soldiers coming towards him. A soldier tried to ambush him from behind, but Rogan hits him with the shotgun and knocking him down. Out of ammo, Rogan reloads one shell and shoots the soldier point-blank, blowing his head open.

While Rogan tried to regain his composure and reload his shotgun, a grenade ball rolls towards him.

"Shi-!" Rogan gasps.

Just at the last second, Kate dives in and kicks the ball away. The ball explodes, sending shards of wood and glass everywhere.

"You alright?!" Kate asks Rogan in a daze.

"I'm fine," Rogan said. "C' mon. Let's get out of this shithole."

Rogan takes a peek from the wall and saw the soldiers all coming towards their location. Kate takes out one of her grenade balls from her belt.

"Anytime now, Rogan," Kate said.

Rogan waited for a moment for the soldiers to move where he wanted. The soldiers continued to walk towards their position. "NOW!" Rogan yelled.

Kate activates her grenade ball and rolled it towards the soldiers. The ball and releases a thick white smoke that covers the entire room. Rogan and Kate quickly ran through the smoke, heading towards the exit. A couple of soldiers spotted them and tried to attack them, but they quickly took the soldier down and head towards the exit. Kate pressed the down button and waits for the elevator to arrive. Kate looks at the current floor the elevator is located and realized that something is amiss.

"They're on the elevator too!" Kate said.

"Quick! To the stairs!" Rogan told Kate.

Rogan and Kate quickly enter the emergency stairs nearby. The two quickly head down the stairs. A couple of soldiers who were on the way up spotted them but Kate quickly took them down with her SMG.

"This way," Rogan said.

Rogan and Kate stopped heading down and instead head towards a door with a "Restricted Area", sign labeled on it, just several floors below the office. They swiftly left the stairs and evaded the soldiers who are coming towards them. The floor has an entirely different vibe and feel compared to the offices on the 15th floor. The room surrounding them is wider and more spacious. The black tiled floors are cleaner, and the walls are covered with huge metal plates. Like the 15th floor, the room felt eerily silent, somehow even more silent than the 15th floor. The lights are dim. Kate felt chills on her spine.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Kate said.

"Me neither..." Rogan said.

The two walked around for a moment. The motion detectors respond to their movement and the lights went up. Kate looked to the right and gasps, while Rogan flinched at what they saw. On their right, there's a long spacious room made of glass walls and doors. The markings on the doors and walls indicate that the rooms were used for the research and development department of the AMS. Inside, everything is in disarray; Lab apparatuses fell on the ground, and research papers were left on the floor. There are bloody handprints staining the glass wall. They can see several dead bodies inside, covered in blood. Some of the bodies are eaten and feasted by several creatures inside.

"Oh my god..." Kate said.

"Human experimentation? Since when the AMS R&D went barbaric?" Rogan asked.

"I don't know. I've never visited the R&D department before. It's not like we're allowed to anyway."

Rogan walks towards one of the glass doors. He tried to open the door using the keycard. However, the door stayed shut and didn't open.

"Damn..." Rogan said.

"God, I hate this place," Kate said. "Let's just get out of here and-"

Suddenly the ground's shaking as if a giant is walking nearby. A faint revving sound can also be heard.

"Stay alert." Rogan gets alerted to his surroundings.

As they anticipate what's coming towards them, the shaking became closer and the revving sounds became louder. A dent formed on a wall behind them. The dent became larger and wider as the wall slowly crumbles. The wall collapses, revealing a huge, heavily armored suit, with a large machine gun on its left shoulder, and a chainsaw on one of its arms.

Rogan realized what they're facing against. He seems to have temporarily lost his mind. "A Guardian Unit?! HOW ON EARTH THEY GOT MADE?!"

"Isn't that the experimental unit our old boss discontinued it's development years ago?!" Kate asked.

"Yes, it is," A voice said from the suit. "Man, this thing is a work of art."

The body of the suit opens and reveals it's user: a man in his forties, with a greyish black laid back hair, and a faint scar mark across his left cheek. He also has a small snake tattoo that can be seen slightly on his neck. He wore a black tactical suit, with black gloves and boots.

"Hey there, Rogan. I see you haven't changed one bit." The man said menacingly.

"Foster! I KNEW you're alive." Rogan said.

"Who?" Kate asked.

"Bryan Foster. My old partner. Several years before the Curien Incident, I exposed him selling classified AMS files to the black market. He was sent to the ADX Florence facility in Colorado, but the bus carrying him crashed. There are no survivors during the crash, so the world assumed that he's dead... But here we are, a reunion 14 years in the making. I am so not glad to see him again."

"Aw, really? I thought you would greet me with hugs and pats on the back or something like that." Bryan said sarcastically. "So, how you're doin'? How's work? Pretty good?"

"I left," Rogan said. "How do you survive that crash, huh?"

"Shame. I expect you to still be around when I'm back..." Bryan said. "But to answer that question, let's just say... I have friends outside, doing me a favor. Payment for my... excellent services."

"Good... Yeah, that's good, really good." Rogan sarcastically said. "And thanks to that you seem to be their leader now? You're not doing a good job leading them."

Bryan seems irritated. "Alright, that was on me. My bad."

"Don't be, they'll all be dead by morning anyway," Kate said.

"Wow. I did not expect such words out of you, missy." Bryan looks at Kate, slightly pissed. "You have no idea who you're talking to."

"Try me." Kate simply said.

"My pleasure..." Bryan chuckled. Bryan wears back the suit and charges towards them. Kate and Rogan quickly get out of the way. Bryan swings his chainsaw towards Kate but she evades him. His chainsaw swing breaks the glass wall nearby them.

"Feel threatened yet?!" Bryan asked Kate from inside the suit.

"Oh shit, he's no joke," Kate said to Rogan.

Bryan fired his machine guns. Rogan and Kate quickly ran into the lab through the broken glass wall. Rogan threw a grenade ball towards Bryan. The ball explodes and emits a thick white smoke. Running through the smoke, Rogan shoots the lights and quickly hide behind a row of desks. The gunfire destroys the lights on the ceiling, shutting down the lights and making the room dark and gloomy. Sparks coming out of the broken lights.

"Nice try, Rogan. Nice try." Bryan mocks him.

"How much Schaeffer paid you for this, huh?" Rogan asked Bryan while hiding.

"A lot, Rogan. 500 thousand dollars, with an additional $200 thousand for every AMS agent captured or killed. And that's not including these sweet toys he gave us for free." Bryan said while walking towards the lab. They could feel every step made by the suit.

"That's a large sum of money he has, huh. What a crook." Kate said.

While secretly sneaking to another desk, Rogan took out his PDA and secretly scans the suit. According to the PDA, the suit is fully armored and made of strong, bulletproof material. However, its source of energy; a battery pack, was placed outside of the suit, thus a possible weak point.

"Kate," Rogan whispered. "We have to strike his back."

"But how?!" Kate asked back.

"I'll figure something out. But first, we have to get behind-"

"C' mon guys, we're not playing hide and seek here." Bryan taunts them as he walks around, looking for them through the smoke.

"I'll distract him. You take out that battery pack." Rogan said. Rogan quickly gets out of cover and distracts Bryan by shooting at him. Rogan quickly takes cover again as Bryan tries to shoot him, breaking more glass walls.

"Is that all you got, Rogan?!" Bryan taunts him. "Seems like you've gone rusty, old man."

"Well, you're not wrong," Rogan said to himself while hiding.

Rogan continues to constantly move between desks while Bryan tries to find him. Bryan occasionally opened fire, forcing Rogan to keep moving between desks. Meanwhile, Kate looks around and keeps moving secretly, trying not to get noticed by Bryan.

"C' mon Rogan!" Bryan sounds pissed. Where are you?!" Bryan grabbed one of the desks and threw it across the room, breaking yet another glass wall. "Let me kill you already!"

"You seem eager to kill me." Rogan mocks Bryan.

"I am!" Bryan yelled. "You know how envious I am being overshadowed by you back then? You were praised and cheered by everyone like you're a knight in shining armor, not even knowing that underneath all the bravado you're just doing the same shit as I did. Who's saving your ass multiple times? I did. Who's the first person who located the bomb during the Atlanta Games? I did. Who's the one who intercepted the smuggling of bombs that will be used to assassinate President Busher? I did! And what do I got? Just handshakes, smiles, and congratulatory words. People like you, Rogan, takes the spotlight from those who equally deserve it."

Several creatures tried to attack Bryan. Bryan shoots them off and squashes one of the bodies in a fit of rage. "I'm sick of it, Rogan. I'm tired of staying in the shadows of others." He then continues to wreak havoc, lifting and destroying more stuff along the way. "You can't stop the revolution, Rogan. The time has come for the world to change. I'll put my mark in the history books, even if it means covering my hands in BLOOD!"

"ENOUGH!" Rogan yelled. Rogan came out of cover and shoots him, but the bullets deflected off the suit. Bryan charges towards Rogan but he dodges it. Bryan then swings his chainsaw, but Rogan managed to avoid it. Rogan opened fire to the helmet, momentarily distracting Bryan. Bryan opened fire to Rogan, but he managed to duck behind a desk.

"C' mon, Rogan! Enough hiding already!" Bryan yelled. "I've been waiting for this moment for 14 YEARS!"

Rogan looks through his cover and saw Bryan coming towards him, lifting desks out of his way. Kate continues to sneak behind, waiting for a chance. Bryan opened fire to a glass wall, releasing a couple of creatures. The creatures saw Rogan and attack him. Rogan was forced to get out of cover and run. Bryan opened fire at Rogan, killing the creatures and destroying anything in its path. One of the bullets hit Rogan in the shoulder, hurting him and knocking him down. Bryan casually walks towards Rogan.

"Oh, Rogan... How the mighty have fallen..." Bryan taunts Rogan. He then lifts him and chokes him.

As Rogan struggled to breathe, Rogan saw Kate slowly approaching Bryan from behind. Rogan realizes that this is his chance to beat Bryan.

"Hey..." Rogan said faintly. "You... forgot... your... t-training, huh?"

"And what is it?" Bryan said.

"Watch... y-your... back." Rogan smiled.

As Bryan turned his back, Kate took the opportunity and jumped onto Bryan's suit. As Bryan tried to get her off the suit, Kate hangs on and climb towards Bryan's back, towards the battery pack using the gaps of the armor.

"Mind if I destroy this?!" Kate said. She then grabs her SMG and fired towards the pack in point-blank range.

"GET OFF ME!" Bryan said as he moves around. Bryan throws Rogan towards a glass wall, then tried to get Kate off his suit by moving around erratically. Kate holds on and continues to shoot the battery pack. Out of ammo, Kate takes out a grenade ball and places it on one of the joints in the suit. Bryan crashes through a glass wall, causing her to lose her grip and fell to the ground.

"Nice try," Bryan said. He then kicks her chest, sending her across the room and hitting her back against the wall. Her gun is a few feet away from her. She could feel the pain on her back. She struggles to get up. Bryan slowly walks towards her, not knowing the grenade ball that got stuck on the joints. She then remembered her pistol on her holster. Trying to distract him, Kate bursts into laughter of slight insanity.

"What's so funny?" Bryan asked.

Kate chuckled for a while before extends her arm and makes a gun gesture. "Bang." Kate quickly takes out her pistol and shoots the grenade ball. The grenade ball explodes, blowing up the battery pack and disabled the suit. Thick black smoke covers the entire room. Kate saw the suit fell to the ground and not moving. Electrical sparks coming out from the battery pack. She saw Rogan on the other side of the room, groaning in pain.

Kate quickly ran towards Rogan's unconscious body. "Rogan! Are you alright?"

Rogan struggled to get up. "Oww my bones."

"C' mon, get up." Kate tries to help Rogan get back up his feet. She notices that the suit began to light up and move again.

"Oh, you sly fox..." Bryan said within the suit. He gets up and opens his helmet, revealing a fresh new scar on his right eye. "But luckily, I'm not finished yet."

Bryan takes out something out of his pocket. "You might remember these."

"...Oh shit, he has one too." Rogan said in a low tone.

"I could sell these, y' know. Make a fortune." Bryan said while holding the syringe. "But, I'd figure it'll be more fun when I try to kill you guys with these."

"Downstairs, now!" Rogan said to Kate as Bryan injects himself with the pathogen. Bryan roared in pain as the effects of the pathogen kicks in. Kate and Rogan ran towards the elevator located on the far end of the room as Bryan slowly mutates. His insanity fueled growls echo across the entire floor. Rogan and Kate quickly enter the elevator. The two managed to get a look at Bryan's mutation. His suit bend and warped together with Bryan's mutated shape. His arms deformed into legs with sharp claws, with one of the claws were noticeably larger. His face turns into a vicious wolf-dog hybrid. Bryan, or at least, a shell of him, twitched and roared.

"C' mon, c' mon, c' mon!" Kate repeatedly presses the button, trying to make the elevator door close faster. The creature ran towards the elevator at full speed. Rogan opened fire to the creature, trying to slow it down. The door manages to close before the creature arrives. The creature charges and hits the door multiple times, creating a large dent. The creature uses his legs and opens the door with pure brute strength, but Rogan fires point-blank shot to the face, stunning the creature and closing the elevator door back.

"Oh, Schaeffer what the fuck are you thinking when creating this?!" Kate said while pressing their next destination, the ground floor.

"Shh! Stay alert!" Rogan said.

As the elevator continues to descent towards the ground floor, Kate and Rogan heard weird noises and clanging from outside the elevator. Suddenly a loud bang came from the roof of the elevator. The creature stabs through the roof using its large claw, trying to injure both Kate and Rogan. Kate was taken aback by the attack and got herself injured on the shoulder area.

"Shit," Kate said while shooting at the roof of the elevator.

Rogan continuously shoots the roof in hopes of killing the creature. The creature stab through the roof again, but Rogan manages to avoid it.

The elevator arrives at the ground floor. Kate and Rogan quickly get out of the elevator with their guns drawn out. The creature stabs through and destroys the elevator roof. The creature jumps down, revealing its hideous appearance. Several parts of Bryan's suit got stuck and dragged along with the creature. Kate quickly makes a scan and identifies Schaeffer's creation as Type P-1430, named "Mikhazel". According to the PDA, several shots to its chest should be able to weaken the creature. The creature growls towards them. Rogan and Kate slowly walk backward in caution. The creature opens its mouth, which splits open in four, revealing multiple sharp teeth inside.

Kate looks at the creature in pure disgust. "You... one ugly mother-"

A soldier suddenly yelled. "Get everyone in the east wing. NOW!"

"Shit. Not now." Rogan whispered.

"Both of you, put your hands in the air, now!" The soldier continued, not aware of the creature's presence.

The creature growled even louder, attracted by the noise.

"What is that?" The soldier heard the growl and became more anxious. "What is that?!"

The creature got attracted by the voice of the soldier. The creature gets out of the elevator and runs past them. The creature attacks the soldier. Panicked, the soldier opened fire, but the creature dodges it and attacks the soldier. The creature viciously bites the soldier to death. Blood splattered across the floor. The soldiers screamed in agony as the creature continues to bite through.

"There's our chance. Run!" Rogan said to Kate. They quickly pass through the soldier and ran across the hallway.

"Where are we heading?!" Kate asks.

"Parking lot. This time, We're going to making it official."

Kate nods in agreement and continues to run. Kate looks back and saw the creature chase after them.

"Here it comes!" Kate said.

Rogan and Kate continue to run as fast as they could. The creature is not far behind and continues to chase after them. The two jumps over the security checks and ran across the main hall. The security alarm can be heard all over the building.

On the main entrance, a group of soldiers are heading towards them with their guns drawn out. One of them yelled loudly towards them.

"FREEZE!"

The sudden appearance of the soldiers took them by surprise. They flinched for a moment before continues to run. The soldiers opened fire towards them. The gunfire distracts the creature, causing it to come towards them instead.

"What the fuck is that thing?!" One soldier screamed.

As Rogan and Kate ran towards the parking lot, the barrage of screams and gunfire ensues. They can hear cries of terror and fear echo throughout the building, alongside ear-grating screeches from Bryan's suit. The elevator nearby opens, and more soldiers coming after them. Rogan and Kate opened fire towards the soldiers, killing some of them. They hide behind a nearby pillar, while a barrage of gunfire coming towards them. Kate looks behind them and saw the creature continues to attack the squadron of soldiers in the main hall. One of the soldiers got its torso ripped apart and tossed around like a toy. Another soldier got knocked on the ground and crawls towards them, but got dragged back towards the main hall, with accompanying screams of agony. More gunshots can be heard.

"Uhhh... Rogan? We need to go!" Kate said.

Alright. Charge through!" Rogan replied.

Rogan and Kate get out of their cover and opened fire towards the soldiers. Rogan and Kate attacks and engages in a brawl against the remaining soldiers, during the fight, Rogan knocks down a nearby soldier and kicks him towards the back. The creature roars and lunges towards the downed soldier. Kate and the rest of the soldiers looked at the creature in pure shock as the creature devours the soldier, effectively stops the fight.

"Kate! C'mon!" Rogan yelled.

Kate snaps out of it and knocks down a nearby soldier. She quickly follows Rogan and ran towards the parking lot as the creature attacks the remaining soldiers in the hallway. Rogan swipes the keycard and quickly opens the door. Kate enters the door and quickly close it as the creature's getting closer. The door locks back just in time before the creature throws a dead body towards the door, creating a crack on the door. The creature slams the door, making more cracks on the glass door.

"We gotta go. Now." Rogan said. Kate nods in agreement as more cracks appear on the door.

Rogan and Kate hop over the car they used to enter the headquarters. Rogan stops for a moment and shoots the fuel tank, using it as a makeshift trap.

A loud glass breaking sound suddenly can be heard nearby. They immediately knew what it is.

"Hide," Rogan whispered. Kate agrees and the two hide behind a nearby car. Rogan takes out his shotgun, ready to trigger his trap. The creature slowly enters the parking lot with the suit dragging along with it, while letting out a growl. Rogan aims his shotgun towards the car, ready to blow it up. Rogan makes a small sigh and shoots. The car explodes with the creature nearby it. Rogan and Kate get out of their cover and look at the explosion.

"Did we do it?" Kate asks. "That was easy..."

As if bad omen once again struck her, the creature jumps out of the fire and lunges towards Kate.

"Not again!" Kate yelled. Kate and Rogan quickly avoid the creature's attack. Rogan quickly hid on another car while Kate was forced to face to face with the creature.

"...S-shit." Kate sounds genuinely scared. Kate slowly walks backward while the creature walks towards her with a vicious growl.

Realizing that Kate is in danger, Rogan takes out his knife and breaks one of the car windows. The car alarms rang, causing the creature to get distracted. Rogan quickly ran towards safety as the creature attacks the car by instinct.

"Kate, get out of there!" Rogan said using gestures. Kate understands and quickly ran towards a car. She makes a mistake by breaking into the car, activating the car alarms. The creature heard the alarm and ran towards her.

"Oh my go-" Kate panicked while entering the car. Kate closes the car door just in time before the creature bites her. The creature tries to attack by biting her through the window, but Kate kicks its face repeatedly and shoots its chest through the door. The creature growls louder and starts bashing the car. The impact is so hard the car almost got flipped. Kate held on and tried to prevent the car from getting flipped. After a while, the creature stopped bashing the car. The car was badly damaged with large dents on one side of the car.

Kate let's out a small sigh of relief. That didn't last long as the creature suddenly bust through the back of the car and forcefully get inside the car. Kate frantically kicks the door open and ran away from the car. Kate quickly hides behind another car and looked from afar as the creature gets out of the wrecked car and growls, looking for its lost prey. Kate hides back behind the car and held her breath in fear. She can hear metal screeching on the asphalt road, indicating the creature's location. After a while, the metal screeching is gone. Kate looks around and saw the creature is missing, out of her sight. The suit that the creature's dragging along was on the ground.

"Crap." Kate gasps.

Kate heard a loud growl coming from behind. She turned around and saw the creature lunges towards her with its mouth wide open. Kate manages to hold off the attack using her SMG, blocking its mouth. Kate grabs her pistol with her left hand and tried to break free, but the creature steps on her arm, preventing her from landing accurate shots. Kate struggled to aim and missed most of her shots. Her arms slowly gave up on her.

"HEY!" Rogan shouts. He ambushed the creature by shooting its chest. The creature gave up on Kate and diverts its attention to him.

"Yes. Come to me. Come and get me..." Rogan continues to yell. The creature roars and walks slowly towards Rogan, ignoring Kate.

"That's right. I'm right here." Rogan said. "Come! COME!"

The creature barks and charges towards Rogan. Rogan dodges its slashes and ran across the parking lot, keeping the creature distracted. Rogan looks behind and saw the creature once again lunges towards him with its large claw. Rogan jumps over a nearby car and dodges it. The creature's slash hits the car, creating a large claw mark on the car.

"HAH!" Rogan mocks the creature.

The creature ran and quickly catches up to Rogan. As the creature tried to lunges towards him again, Rogan slides down and shoots its chest at the right time. The shotgun blast causes the creature to roared in pain and fell to the ground. The creature quickly got up again and attacks Rogan. Rogan ran again to keep a distance against the creature. The creature jumps into a lane of cars and leaps towards Rogan. Rogan failed to dodge it in time and got knocked down.

The creature, waste no time, quickly lunges towards Rogan in an attempt to bite off his head. Rogan grabs his shotgun and uses it to hold back the creature. The creature's strength wore him down as it uses its claws to slowly push the shotgun down to his chest. The creature opened its mouth wide open, ready to tear off Rogan's head. It's saliva slowly drops to Rogan's face.

Suddenly, a ray of light shines in front of him, disorienting him for a moment. A revving sound can be heard. The lights managed to blind the creature for a brief moment. Rogan quickly pushes back the creature, then uses his shotgun to hit him on the face and break free of its grasp. Rogan then quickly rolled over to safety before a car ran over the creature in high speed.

"How do you like it, huh?!" Kate said while driving the car.

With the creature right on the bumper of the car, Kate hits the gas harder and drives away from Rogan. Using her well-known inability to drive safely, Kate hits the top speed and hits a wall. Kate stepped the brakes and drove backward for a moment. The creature, pinned between the wall and the car, slowly gets up and regain balance. Kate quickly hits the gas and hits the wall again, with the creature still pinned between. The car starts to smoke. Kate drives in reverse, before drives and hits the wall once again, crushing the creature.

A shaken Kate gets out of the wrecked car, with the creature struggled to get itself free. Rogan quickly ran and help Kate get back on her feet. Oil slowly leaking from under the car. A spark from the engine fell to the oil puddle and the car quickly catches on fire. The creature, still trapped, roared in agony as it got burned alive. Rogan and Kate watch the car explode and burned down.

"Did we do it?" Kate asks.

A groan suddenly can be heard. Rogan and Kate quickly draw their weapons. They saw Bryan slowly crawling out of the flames. As his charred body crawls away from the fire, Rogan approaches him, with his gun on his face. Bryan looks at Rogan and sighed, accepting his defeat.

"So... I've lost, again..." Bryan said in a hoarse voice. He struggled to make a laugh. "Well... I guess there's... no such thing as... a second chance..."

Bryan's body starts to mutate once again, but the heat of the fire manages to revert him to his original state.

Listen well, Rogan." Bryan continued. "Killing me isn't going to change anything... You still, can't stop... the inevitable..."

"Then it's our job to undone it," Kate said.

Bryan chuckled. "Ahh, you people of the AMS... You guys, never knew how to quit, do you?"

Bryan's body began to mutate yet again, but the fire managed to hold off his mutation just a little bit longer. Bryan groans in pain as he morphs in and out of his mutation.

"Well..." Bryan coughed. "My time is running out... Time to make it official... Eager Eagle..."

"You're damn right." Rogan bluntly said. He then raised his gun and points it to Bryan's face. Bryan spreads his arm wide open as if he's waiting for Rogan to shoot.

"Farewell, Bryan."

Rogan then shoots Bryan with a point-blank blast from his shotgun, killing him instantly. Rogan kicks his remains back to the flames, ensuring his death.

"It's official then..." Kate muttered.

Rogan looks at his watch, the current time is 2:55

"C' mon. Let's get out of here."


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6 - FATE**

* * *

"As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a weapon, far more dangerous than anything that all of us have created," Schaeffer said. "One small dose of this into your bloodstream, and you'll be begging for a bullet in your head."

"Even if you had such a dangerous weapon in your hands, you won't succeed without a proper plan." A curious man asked. "What are your plans in the future? Because honestly, you'll need more than just a bioweapon to convince us into following your plans."

"Allow me," Schaeffer said. He pressed a button on his laptop. The projector then displays a holographic map of the DC area and its surroundings.

Schaeffer points at a red dot in the middle of the screen. "This is the White House. One of the most secure places in the world. 5 floors, 2 of them are underground, one of which also acts as a bunker. Now that bunker provides everything the President and his executives' needs; shelter, residence, workplace. You see where I'm going here?"

"Are you planning to take over the White House?" A woman asked him.

"Yes. Yes, I am." Schaeffer simply said. His answer was met with disagreement and confusion by everyone. Only the old man kept his calm.

"But." Schaeffer continued. "I understand the absurdity of this plan. The cost, the men, the risks of being a failure, I get it, which is why I have prepared contingency plans."

Schaeffer snapped his fingers. From the door in front of him, he saw two men and a creature, locked inside two glass boxes. The men are on the same box, blindfolded, with their hands tied, and their mouths taped shut, while the creature is placed on a glass box with a hole small enough to fit an arm. Around the boxes, four armed men aimed their guns towards it. Everyone in the room turned around and watch as Schaeffer walks towards the glass box. He looks at the creature intensely. The creature tries to attack him, with one of its arms coming out of the box, but Schaeffer ignores it. Schaeffer then takes out a syringe out of his pocket.

"This is the liquidized version of the Curien Virus, the same formula all of you been using for almost a decade." Schaeffer declared. "What did I do with it, you ask? Perfecting it. I'm sorry to say this, but all of you are stupid. Instead of improving what Curien left off, all of you stick to the basics and improve nothing. At least Goldman made them more aggressive, but that's about it. Making them engulf in flames once killed? For what, you think the AMS cared enough to trace down copies of our creations? Making them move in packs? One well-placed grenade blast would kill them all. Killing people by what, slashing them with hatchets, kicking their spines till they break, or throwing them off the window? Bitch please, they're ineffective. That's why we've yet to see major progress. _That's_ why we lost. But not anymore..."

Schaeffer grabs the creature's arm and injects it with the virus. The creature shakes its body vigorously. The creature then looks at the two men and tries to attack them. The two men screamed at their lungs as the creature slams its head to the glass wall, in hopes of breaking it. Schaeffer snaps his fingers again. One of the armed men pulls the separating glass wall between the creature and the two men. Now free, the creature attacks both of the men, feasting on their bodies while the two hopelessly tried to fight back. Blood quickly covered the glass wall. One of the men tried bangs the glass wall, but the creature bit his neck and feast upon it.

There was silence afterward. Schaeffer simply smiled and casually speaks. "And now, we wait."

Slowly, a hand appears on the bloodstained wall. The two men rise from the floor, but they are not alive. Their bodies are covered with bites and scratches. Their skin turns pale and their pupils turned grey. They look at Schaeffer, and they immediately try to attack him, not knowing that they're inside a box of no escape. Schaeffer once again snapped his fingers, and this time the four armed men shoot at the two men and the creature, killing them after multiple shots to the body and head. Schaeffer smiled at the results as a group of people arrives and clean up the mess. His demonstration was then met with applause and praise.

"We're doing this, slowly by slowly. We'll cripple the world, one step at a time. Multiple small scale attacks, more than enough to overwhelm them. And when the times comes, we'll attack, full force. We'll take control, and then, we could start over. Cleansing the world of its impurities and then repopulate the new world, ensuring the future of mankind for centuries." Schaeffer continued. "Now the question is, will you people accept my proposal of salvation, or chose to die in armageddon?"

Soon, everyone begins to talk to one another, discussing Schaeffer's overall presentation. Only the old man stays in his seat and looks at Schaeffer with intensity. Everyone then takes out a piece of paper and wrote down something on it. They give their papers to the old man's assistants, who are waiting. They read all the papers and count the total tally. They passed down the information to the old man. The man listens to them well. He then nods in agreement.

"It seems that we have a unanimous agreement. Your plan is a go." The old man said. He then clapped his hands. Everyone else followed soon after.

"Thank you." Schaeffer smiled from cheek to cheek. "I will not let you all-."

"However, I must say," The old man suddenly interrupted him. "You must not fall to greed. You must keep your ambitions in check. Will you promise me?"

Schaeffer begins to think, before answering the question with full confidence. "Yes sir, I will."

"Well..." The old man suddenly stands up. "It's been settled then, a plan for a great future ahead of us." He then raises an empty wine glass. His assistants quickly stand by his side and poured wine into the glass. Schaeffer and the others followed the old man as well, raise their wine-filled glasses in unison.

"For mankind, for the future and the days beyond." The old man said. He pauses for a moment before continuing. He smiled menacingly.

"For the Providence." He said.

"For the Providence." Everyone soon followed.

* * *

 ** _March 13, 2011_**

 ** _2:56_**

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" A soldier suddenly shouts. A dozen more soldiers came and opened fire towards them.

"Get down!" Rogan said. Rogan and Kate quickly hide behind a pillar. Rogan took out a key and presses a button on the remote. A nearby car beeps and flashes its headlights.

"Over there!" Kate said.

"Wait. Don't go yet." Rogan warned as the barrage of bullets continues to hail. After a while, the soldiers stopped firing, giving them a chance to escape.

"Now!" Rogan said. Rogan and Kate quickly ran towards the car. The soldiers noticed and opened fire towards them in a hurry. Rogan and Kate quickly get inside the car and avoids the incoming fire. Rogan tries to get the car working, but it won't start.

"C' mon... C' mon..." Rogan tries to start the car, slamming the dashboard in frustration. The soldiers start shooting at the car. Bullet marks start to appear in the doors and the windshields.

The car finally starts. Neon lights start to lighten up the car's interior. A holographic user interface appears on the windshield.

"Yes!" Rogan exclaims. Rogan quickly sets their destination on the holographic GPS, shift the gears and hits the gas. The soldiers tried to shoot them, but the car kept going, breaking through. The soldiers avoid the car and continue to shoot the car, breaking the rear window. The car drives straight to the exit. A truck suddenly blocks their way. More soldiers came out of the truck and start shooting at them. Rogan shifts his gears to reverse and stomps the gas. Rogan makes a tight J-turn. A guard on a nearby guard tower fires its grenade launcher, which they managed to dodge. A bullet nearly hits through Kate's jacket. She had it enough.

"Alright, that's it!" Kate yelled. She breaks the side windows and starts retaliate by shooting at the soldiers, killing some of them.

The car swerves to the front parking lot. The car sails through rows and rows of vehicles. A couple of soldiers tried to stop the car by shooting at them, but to no avail. The car hits several military crates, topple them to the ground. Kate retaliates by throwing the last of her grenade balls to a truck behind them. The grenade explodes, destroying the truck and several fuel tanks, creating a large explosion that damages several other vehicles, and killing many soldiers who got caught up in the blast. Driving through the fire, Rogan takes a hard right and hits the gas hard. The car quickly hits 50 mph. Rogan shifts his gears and hits the gas harder. Rogan and Kate bust through a boom barrier, and gets away, leaving the disoriented soldiers behind, and a trail of destruction in their wake.

Kate looks out, believing that they're in the clear. A group of vehicles quickly catches up and coming towards them at a very high speed. A group of motorcycle riders takes the lead and opened fire towards them.

"Shit!" Kate said as she avoids getting shot.

"Persistent bastards..." Rogan said. Rogan quickly took a hard left. The motorcycle group follows them while the rest takes a detour.

One of the motorcycle riders approaches the car and opened fire. Rogan responds by crashing to the motorcycle. The rider fell from his motorcycle but hangs onto the car. The rider tried his best to shoot Rogan, but Kate neutralizes him and shoots him in the face, causing him to lose his grip and got squashed by the car. The other motorcycle riders opened fire towards them, damaging the backlights. Rogan suddenly hits the brakes. One of the riders got hit and fell. Rogan hits the two motorcycle riders beside them causing them to lose control and crash to a nearby car. A motorcycle rider in front of them starts to shoot, but Rogan hits the gas and hits him. The motorcycle got run over and destroyed, but the rider hangs onto the roof of the car. The rider shoots through the roof, barely misses Rogan and Kate. Kate retaliates by firing a full round right to his chest. The rider slides off the roof and fell to the ground.

The remaining three motorcycle riders opened fire while catching up with the car. Kate and Rogan duck behind their seats to avoid gunfire.

"Uh, Rogan," Kate said. "Might be a good time to get rid of them..."

"No, not yet..." Rogan said. He keeps looking at the rear-view mirror.

A proximity warning appears on the holographic display. It starts to beeping faster and louder as the riders slowly closing in.

"Rogan?!" Kate said again. "Here they come. Whatever plan you're thinking you better do it now.."

"Almost there..." Rogan said.

The riders are right behind them. The proximity alarm beeps out of control.

"Rogan!" Kate shouts.

Rogan suddenly hits the brakes. He pulls the handbrakes and does a 180 spin. The spin hits two of the motorcycle riders, causing them to fall. One of them holds onto the hood and tried to shoot them, but the car hits a truck, causing him to fell off the hood.

Rogan hits reverse and drives backward. The last motorcycle rider opened fire towards them. Rogan and Kate quickly duck behind the dashboard to avoid getting shot. Rogan suddenly hits the gas, crashing the motorcycle. The rider fell to the ground. He then gets up, limping away from them. Rogan drives backward and does a reverse 180. The car hits the rider and knocks him back down, hitting a garbage bin.

"You okay?" Rogan asks.

Kate looks shaken. "Yeah, I'm okay."

The fallen rider suddenly grabs his gun and tries to shoot. Kate quickly opened fire, killing him on the spot.

Three cars suddenly appear and blocking the road ahead of them. A few soldiers came out and draw their guns.

"Ready for Round 2?" Rogan said. He shifts to reverse, ready to drive.

Kate reloads her SMG. "God, I wish that would be it..." She complained.

Rogan hits the brakes and drives in reverse. The soldiers quickly opened fire. Rogan makes another reverse 180 and drives away from the cars. The soldiers quickly get back into their cars and give chase. Rogan soars through the empty streets of DC as a convoy of vehicles chases after them. The drivers opened fire with whatever weapon they're bringing now, leaving countless bullet marks on the car. One of the bullets hits one of the rear-view mirrors, breaking it. Rogan became frustrated.

"Goddammit! Just leave us alone!" Rogan shouts as he slams his car to a nearby car chasing them. Rogan hits the car again, causing it to lose control and hits another car.

Three vans approach the car at very high speed. They opened fire as they drive past the car, leaving massive bullet marks on the doors. One of the bullets barely misses Kate. Kate quickly fights back by shoots back at one of the vans, but the van pulled back and avoids it. Another van drives ahead of Rogan's car. The back door opens and a soldier opened fire directly to the car's windshield. Kate shoots the soldier then blast off the tires, causing the van to spin out of control. More vans arrive and opened fire. Rogan hits the two vans trying to box them. Rogan hits one of the vans, causing it to swerve to the left and hit an abandoned car. Rogan then hits the other van, causing it to get hit by a truck and crash into a nearby store. A car then suddenly hits the car and perform a pit maneuver, causing it to spin out of control. Rogan quickly recovers and gets out of the loop. Rogan hits the gas, planning to retaliate. He catches up and hits the car. The driver opened fire to them, whilst trying to hit them back. The two cars engage in a game of bumping cars, exchanging hits and bumps to each other, leaving an ugly looking dent on the doors. Rogan, having enough of it, baits the driver into bumping into him again. Rogan quickly hits the brakes as the driver tried to hit them. The car hits a guardrail, spun out of control and hits a fuel truck, spilling out the gasoline before catches on fire.

More vans coming from nowhere and opened fire towards them from behind. Kate grabbed her seatbelt and buckled up. She opens one of the side doors. The door hits a wrecked truck and fell off the car.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rogan asked.

"Trust me. I got this." Kate said to him. Kate changes her position, wrapped her legs around the belt and gets out of the car, firing her SMG to the vehicles behind them while dangerously close from hitting the road. Kate struggled to shoot properly and misses most of the time. She gets back inside the car, tried to regain her focus.

"That didn't work that well," Rogan said.

The enemy opened fire again. Rogan and Kate ducked behind their seats again. Some of the bullets pierce through their seats.

"I have to do this. We're just going in circles if we don't get rid of them." Kate said. She puts her SMG on the dashboard and pulls out her pistol. She wraps her legs around the belt again and opened fire. Rogan tried to help her by driving steadily while making sure that she's not getting hit. Kate made steady focused shots and manages to hit the driver of a van behind them. The van loses control and hits another van, creating a huge crash and causes a chain reaction. An enemy car speeds up and tries to hit Kate, but Kate quickly gets back up, grabs her SMG back and shoots the driver, killing him immediately. They arrived at an intersection. Rogan takes a hard left, three remaining vans followed him and are closing in. They opened fire, once again tried to shoot them. Kate gets out again and fires back, but misses most of the time.

"Rogan, hit the brakes," Kate said. "Speed up when I tell you."

"As you wish!" Rogan said. He hits the brakes, allowing the vans to drive past them.

"Now!" Kate said. Rogan hits the gas and accelerates. Kate gets out and shoots the back of the vans. The bullets hit the fuel tank on one of the vans, causing it to explode and got flipped over. The two remaining vans closing in and pinned Rogan and Kate between them. A soldier from one of the vans jumped into the car and gets inside. Kate quickly subdues the soldier before dragging him to the backseat, where they engage in a brawl. After a tense fistfight, the soldier eventually gets the upper hand as he choked Kate to near death. Rogan makes a sudden turn, allowing Kate to turn the tides and kicks him outside, where he fell and got run over.

A soldier suddenly ambushed Kate, dragged her into one of the vans and drives away. At the same time, another soldier from the other van ambushes Rogan by choking him, causing the car to move side to side uncontrollably. Rogan is forced to fight the soldier while continuously driving. Rogan breaks free and manages to strike the soldier on the neck, dragging him down to the passenger seat. The two engage in a fistfight, with Rogan trying to avoid his punches while simultaneously avoiding the vehicles left on the streets. Rogan wraps the soldier's neck with a seatbelt, trying to choke him to death, but the soldier hits Rogan and kicks his chest. Rogan retaliates by laying hooks and jabs to his chest before knocked him out with a punch straight to his face. The victory didn't last long as one of the vans hits the car. Rogan regains composure as he hits back the van. The two exchange hits and bumps to each other. Rogan finally takes out his shotgun and shoots the driver, injuring him. He then makes multiple hits to the van and pushes the van to an empty bus stop. The van gets on the ramp and got flipped over, collapsing the bus stop in the process.

Meanwhile, Kate breaks free from the soldier's grasp and engage in a fistfight inside the van. Using a knife, the soldier tries to stab Kate, but she manages to dodge him. Kate gave the soldier a hard jab to his chest, then breaks his arm, dropping the knife. Kate launched a series of punches and jabs to the soldier while dodging his punches. The van driver intervened by driving left and right, trying to make Kate lose control and fell. Kate hangs on and tackles the soldier. The driver suddenly hits the brakes, causing both Kate and the soldier to nearly fall from the van. Kate briefly looks behind her and saw Rogan catching up with her. While she's distracted, the soldier knocked her down and takes out a gun to finish her off. Rogan catches up and hits the back of the van, stumbling the soldier. Kate avoids his shots and manages to disarm him. She inadvertently shoots the driver, killing him. With a dead man driving her straight to a gas station nearby, Kate tried to get out of the van. She once again got hit by the soldier's punches and got choked again. The van hits a wrecked car, allowing Kate to break free and retaliates with several hooks and punches to the soldier. Kate finally knocked him down with a series of jabs, and kicks him out of the van, getting run over in the process. Kate then jumps out of the van and hangs on the hood of the car. Suddenly the unconscious soldier wakes up and tries to choke Rogan again, but Rogan elbowed him in the stomach and punches him in the face before Kate pulled the soldier out of the car and to the road. Kate gets inside the car, panting heavily. Rogan and Kate then saw the van hits a car and spins out of control before blowing up the entire gas station. Rogan slows down the car and watches the station engulf in flames.

"I hope that the last of em..." Kate said.

Rogan could hear something closing in towards them. A large armored truck burst through the flames and tries to ram the car.

"Shi!" Rogan cursed. He shifts the gears and hits the gas quickly, but the truck hits the car, spun them sideways to a halt, hitting an abandoned van.

Kate got knocked out of the car and fell straight to the ground. Groaning in pain, Kate looks at the truck. It's black and crimson color scheme gives off bad vibes. Its body is visibly armored with thick metal plates. Its front bumper is noticeably large and bulky. Its windows are tinted black and look sturdy, possibly bulletproof. There's a heavily protected mounted machine gun on top of the truck, aiming towards her.

The truck opened fire towards Kate. Rogan drives backward and quickly do a reverse 90, protecting Kate from incoming gunfire.

"C' mon!" Rogan tells Kate. Kate gets up with Rogan's help and quickly gets inside the car. Rogan shifts the gears and hits the gas, driving away from the truck. The truck quickly gave chase.

"Buckle up!" Rogan said as he soars through the empty streets. The truck quickly catches up with the car and opened fire. Kate shoots at the truck, only for the bullets get deflected, not leaving a single dent on the truck. Kate tried to shoot the windshields but leaves no cracks on the windows.

"They're bulletproof! We can't get rid of this thing easily!" Kate shouts.

"Slow it down as best as you can!" Rogan said as he makes a hard left. The truck quickly followed while continues to shoot at the car. Rogan looks around, trying to find an opportunity until he saw a row of vehicles in front of them.

"Hang on!" Rogan said as he hits 60 mph. Rogan goes off-road and drives to the empty sidewalk, taking refuge behind the vehicles. The truck opened fire towards them, destroying countless windows on the abandoned vehicles. Some of them took plenty of damage and explodes. Rogan continues to drive, crashing through the outdoor tables of a diner and ran over a couple of unsuspecting creatures, he makes a hard left hitting a fire hydrant, creating a small geyser. The spraying water didn't affect the truck at all as they continue to shoot, damaging and blowing up even more vehicles. Kate shoots the truck trying to disorient them but to no avail. Rogan saw a gap between two large abandoned trucks ahead of them. Rogan speeds up, hitting 70, then 80. Rogan pulled the brakes and does a 180 in, 180 out, passing through the two trucks without hitting them. Rogan let out a huge sigh of relief, while Kate chuckled in disbelief, can't believe that he pulled it off.

"Ha, let's see if that truck gets past that!" Rogan exclaims.

Instead of passing through it swiftly, the truck went head-on and crashes through. The truck itself suffered little to no damage. The truck once again opened fire towards Rogan and Kate.

"Oh come on!" Rogan said as he speeding up. He reaches 40 mph and hits the brakes, accelerates to the right. The truck followed them but makes the turn a bit too late. The car drives through the buildings, destroying walls and passes through furniture like it's nothing. The truck opens fire again, with Rogan trying desperately to avoid the shots. Kate looks behind and couldn't believe just how much damage the truck made. The truck turns right and ran over the abandoned vehicles, crushing them flat. The truck shoots at the car. Rogan and Kate hide behind the dashboard. Bits of feather fell to the car floor mats. Rogan makes a sharp left to a huge abandoned highway. The truck followed suit. The truck catches up with the car and opened fire, forcing Rogan and Kate to duck. Seeing yet another opportunity, Rogan accelerates and hits the truck before suddenly turned right and head towards the upper lane. The truck heads straight as it misses the turn. The truck shoots upwards towards them, but Rogan avoids the shots. When Rogan drives to the edge again trying to pinpoint the position of the truck, it fires grenades instead of shooting them with bullets. Rogan quickly dodges it before it explodes, sending bits of concrete and asphalt to the windshield.

"Oh, that thing fires grenades too, huh! Oh, great! Just great!" Kate sarcastically said.

The truck fires more grenades to the upper lane and the piers, causing cracks to the bridge and blowing up several vehicles. Rogan tries his best at avoiding the explosions. Kate looks behind and saw the road slowly cracking behind them.

"Uh, Rogan?" Kate said. "You're seeing this?"

Rogan looks from the rear-view mirror. "I noticed. We have to get off this bridge!"

The upper lane slowly collapses. Rogan hits the gas harder. The truck shoots more grenades, exploding right in front of them. Rogan avoids the blasts and avoids the vehicles blocking the road. Rogan hits 70 mph. Rogan braces himself as he made a decision.

"Hang on!" Rogan yelled. Rogan suddenly turned left and hits the railings. Kate screamed as the car bust through the railings and fell towards the road below them. The car hits the ground hard, wrecking the front bumper. Rogan manages to keep the car from flipping and continues to drive.

"You're crazy. You're goddamn crazy Rogan!" Kate said with her cracked voice.

Rogan's car sails through the empty streets. Kate looks behind and saw the upper lane collapses into large bits of concrete. Rogan makes a turn to the left and gets back to the highway. The truck follows them right behind, on the right side of the highway. The truck fired their grenades, but Rogan avoids them. The truck then plows through a pile-up, crushing anything in its path, before turning left in an attempt to ram them. Rogan hits the brakes and manages to avoid getting hit. The two vehicles are then closing into an intersection piled with vehicles. Rogan makes a hard right, passes through the vehicles with ease. The truck crashes through the pile recklessly, sending cars up in the air.

As the two vehicles continued to engage in a cat-and-mouse chase, Kate felt something strange.

"Rogan, do you feel that?" Kate asks Rogan.

"What?!" Rogan asks, clearly confused. Rogan then felt it. Something felt indeed wrong.

"I felt something shaking..." Rogan said.

Rogan and Kate could felt it. The ground is shaking. The shake became louder and stronger over time, as if there's an earthquake. In front of them, a car suddenly crashed to the ground as if it fell from the sky. Rogan panicked and quickly turn right to avoid it.

"What the hell was that?!" Rogan asks.

"I don't know!" Kate said. Kate looks behind and saw giant rock pillars coming out from the street.

"Left! Left! Left!" Kate shouts.

Rogan turns left and avoids the rock pillars sprouting out of the ground. Rogan's eyes widened. His face painted with shock and awe.

"What.. the.. hell..."

Rogan hits panic mode and tried his best to avoid getting them killed. The truck stopped shooting at them and tried to get away as well. Amongst the chaos, Kate heard a roar. She looks behind and saw something in the distance. She saw a giant hand made of stone grabbing a vehicle and then throws it towards them. Rogan turned to the right and avoids the car. Kate tried to look at the creature's body, but the dark sky makes it harder to see. Another wave of earth pillars sprouting through the street. The pillars hit the truck and flipped it, spinning in the air before fell to the ground upside down, bursting in flames. Rogan makes a sharp turn to the left, barely avoiding the pillars. Rogan and Kate heard the roar again. Kate looks behind and saw multiple vehicles falling right on top of them. Rogan briefly looks behind and saw the vehicles above them.

"Holy shi-!"

Rogan desperately avoids the falling vehicles while hitting the gas harder. The vehicles rain down in front of them, blocking their vision on what's ahead of them. Rogan drives left and right, trying to avoid all of the vehicles. He manages to avoid most of the vehicles.

Rogan let's out a small sigh."Ok, okay. I think we're oka-"

"ROGAN!" Kate screamed. A fuel truck fell right in front of them. Rogan panicked and quickly turned right. The speeding car hits a van and crashed, spins in the air before falling to the ground. The car, totaled and wrecked, continuously rolled on the ground. Windows break apart. Airbags deployed. Rogan and Kate spun wildly before coming to a stop.

The dust settles. Kate slowly regains conscious. The car was flipped over. Rogan is not on his seat. She heard a vehicle approached them while another vehicle takes off.

"Hurry up!" She heard a man yelling. "Get them out of there before that thing came back to us!"

She looks around with her blurry vision. She turned left and saw Rogan, right outside the car, shoots a man before tackling someone. He then got knocked down by someone else and got beaten badly. His unconscious body was taken and carried away from the car. She deflates the airbag covering her body, takes off her seatbelt and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Kate withstands the pain and slowly crawled her way out of the car. A man appeared behind her and drag her out of the car. She looks at her masked saviors, or rather, her captors. Another man arrived and punched her hard. They then carry her towards a black truck. Kate, barely conscious, shakes her body, trying to break free.

"Ah shit. The bitch's still awake." One of them said.

"It's okay." A man said. His voice sounds pretty familiar. "Let her go."

The two men let her go. Kate tried to fight the two men before getting punched by someone behind her. She gets back up, but she got kicked in the leg and backflipped her, knocking her down. Kate's vision recovered as the man slowly kneel down and grabbed her hair. He sports a very familiar look.

"Sleep tight, princess." The man said. He then punched her in the face, sending her to oblivion.

* * *

"Rise and shine, sweetheart." A man said.

Kate slowly wakes up from her slumber. She notices her hands and body tied up to the chair she's sitting on. She looks around and saw Rogan, unconscious, tied up as well. The room she's on is humid and cold. Kate could smell a foul odor from behind, but she can't see it. A single lamp illuminates the room. The walls are made of old bricks. Droplets of water can be heard from a distance. On the right side of the room is an old, rusty prison door. Right in front of her is a table with a bunch of equipment, and a particularly suspicious briefcase. Guarding her and Rogan are two heavily armed soldiers, and a man wearing a black striped suit, tinted glasses, and black boots, sitting on the table.

Kate tried to move around and break free, but the knot is tight enough that she can't move her arms.

"You can't get away." The man said while sipping his cup of tea. "I've tried it myself. Trust me."

"What are you trying to do next, Schaeffer?" Kate asks. "Torture me to death? Left me and Rogan here to die in the blast? Injecting me with one of your little creations?"

"Actually, I did think about that but... I find a better use of my creations elsewhere." Schaeffer smiled.

A small rumble can be felt. Dust fell from the ceiling. Lights flicker. Schaeffer doesn't seem to be worried about it. He takes Rogan's PDA and examines it in admiration.

"The IC-G1911... The last of the old kind..." Schaeffer said. "All of those men died, just for you..."

He then drops the PDA to the floor and stomps it repeatedly. Kate could only watch in shock as the PDA cracks and breaks down.

Schaeffer picks up the remains of the PDA and puts it on the table. "It may look unpleasant in the eyes, but I'll take it anyway. It'll look good for my collection. My... 'trophies'."

"Ughh..." Rogan groaned.

"Rogan! You're okay?" Kate asks.

"Ah! There he is, came back to his senses! Finally, I've been waiting for this."

Schaeffer then walks up to Rogan and slightly bent his knees, hands on his waist. "So, how your nap, Uncle Tommy? Feeling good now?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah. I enjoyed it. Thank you for your services." Rogan sarcastically said.

"You're welcome." Schaeffer smiled back, then punched Rogan in the gut. Rogan groans in deep pain.

"Rogan!" Kate desperately tried to break free to help Rogan, but she can't.

"Ah, Rogan," Schaeffer said as he cracks his knuckles. "You and your stubbornness. You shouldn't have come looking for me."

Rogan laughed. "You know, I did have fun looking for you, 'Cobalt'. At least I got to go around the world. Y' know, actually having a vacation."

"Why are you doing this?" Kate asks straight to the point. "You're a good man, Schaeffer. Why do you turn your back against us?!"

Schaeffer pauses for a moment before answering. "Because no one had the same thoughts as I am."

"What?" Kate asks.

"Have you two ever think for one second about the state of the world?" Schaeffer continued. "How we, the human species, has become over the years? We are so preoccupied with greed and power that we're slowly ruining the gift that God has given to us. Thousands of women and children died every day because of the never-ending conflict happening in the Middle East. Countries all over the world spending millions of dollars to improve their weaponry in the neverending cycle of the arms race, yet they neglect thousands of their citizens who are poor and poverty-stricken. The rich will become essentially gods, while the weak became slaves. These are just three of many other problems that we're facing now. The signs are there, and to think that people wouldn't take this problem seriously, it's pissing me off!"

Schaeffer slams his fists on the table in a fit of rage. Kate and Rogan didn't speak a word. Rogan noticed that Kate tries to pull something up.

"Humanity is corrupt, fellas." Schaeffer calmed down and explained. "We're corrupted. We're fell deep into the rabbit hole and only a few noticed. We're no longer pure in God's eyes, and what did he do when there are too many of those people? He wiped them out, cleaning the slate, start anew." He then takes a particular book from the table. "It has been done once, and a few men and women lived to tell the tale. For years, I've thought about it, and a long time ago I believed that I'm the only one with such beliefs. Then I met him. That man."

"Let me guess..." Kate interrupted. "Thornheart?"

"Yes, Thornheart." Schaeffer acknowledged. "That man opened my eyes, explained to me his views about the current state of the world. And at that moment I felt some sort of ease, relief, that I'm not the only person on the planet who thought about it. He introduced me to many others, people like me, from various backgrounds and nationalities, all share the same view: The world is corrupt, and the end of the world as we know it is coming, one way or another. God is dead. He was gone, never to return. Many believed that he will return, but no, only a few of us knew the truth, that we, humanity, the very creation of God, murdered him. There's no one left to sit on that throne and regulate the world. And so to fix the world of its corruption, someone must step up to the plate, and take over. Somebody must become as 'God'. _I_ must become as 'God'."

"And that justified your actions for killing millions?!" Rogan asks.

"There's a purpose, Rogan. A purpose that you people would never understand. You've heard the saying: 'Progress requires sacrifices?' That is what I'm willing to do in exchange for everyone's salvation. The world is slowly going to shit, so why not speed it up, let the world die, and start anew? Everything I did is to fix the world in God's name, nothing more!"

"And you really think we're gonna let it slide?!" Kate replied.

"Probably. You're so focused on having your revenge, you don't even know if you're fighting on the wrong side."

"...What are you talking about?" Kate asks.

Schaeffer continued. "When I joined the AMS back then in 2002, I initially believed in their cause. The man warned me, that the organization isn't as clean as they seem, that they're in fact just like all the others. I didn't listen to him until I saw the truth. They ARE the same as all the others: corrupt, careless, rotten to the core. I saw with my very own eyes that the director secretly paid lots of cash for women. I had proof of how much illegal money made and used for private means. And I witnessed myself a transaction between a few of you and an arms dealer, secretly getting their hands on some illegal weaponry, and that it just a few of many.

"I don't believe it." Kate firmly stated.

"You don't have to." Schaeffer adamantly said. "It's entirely your choice. But you know me. I'm not a good liar."

Kate became confused and begins to doubt. Her faith was shaken.

Schaeffer continued. "I soon realized that he was right all along, that they're in fact, corrupt. And so I began secretly rebelled against you while rising through the ranks. I leaked your intel, sabotaged your operations whenever I could, everything I could do to cripple you all bit by bit."

"Seems like your efforts didn't go to waste," Rogan said. "How's the job?"

Schaeffer smiled. "Oh, it's pretty nice actually. I just have to sit on that comfortable chair, signed some papers, joining the weekly meetings, the usual stuff. But having complete control means that I could do everything as much as I like, and no one will bat an eye."

There was an awkward silence afterward.

Schaeffer checks his watch. "So... It's half past four now. I still have around... One and a half hours to spare with you. So what do you want me to do? Mercy killing? Torture? Leaving you guys for dead?"

"I suggest you, go fuck yourself," Rogan said.

Schaeffer gets agitated. "What did you just say?"

"Listen carefully, you dirty scum." Rogan continued. "You're just a man, a simple man, with delusions. You're not ending the world to save humanity. No, you're ending the world, so you along with your little group of merry men recreate the world _in your image._ Your actions aren't going to save anyone, all it does is to confirm, that you and your friends are a bunch of lunatics. There's nothing wrong with the world. It was fine as it is until you guys showed up and bought hell on earth.

"Also," Rogan adds. "You need to talk to a preacher. You're horribly misguided."

Schaeffer suddenly punches Rogan in the face. Rogan spits out blood from his mouth.

"Rogan!" Kate yelled. She tried to break free but her tied hands just won't allow her to do it.

"Say it again, please?" Schaeffer asks with a very forced smile.

"You're crazy, Schaeffer." Rogan sarcastically said. "So I before you're going to beat me to a pulp, allow me... to tell you. Go fuck yourself."

"With pleasure." Schaeffer beats up Rogan, continuously hitting him like a punching bag. Rogan then kicks down Rogan's chair, making a huge thud in the process. Rogan was knocked unconscious. Still breathing, but barely alive. His body is beaten badly, and blood coming out from his head.

Schaeffer tidied up his suit. He then lifts back up the chair. He takes duct tape and taped Rogan's mouth. "He deserved it though. He just can't shut up."

"You're not going to get away with this, Schaeffer," Kate said.

Schaeffer sighs. "Man, you guys... are a bunch of stubborn bastards."

"Damn right you are."

Schaeffer suddenly walks towards Kate and looks towards her at close proximity. "You have a beautiful face, Kate. It'll be a shame if someone ruined it. I suggest you choose your next words wisely." Schaeffer whispered.

"Oh, I am choosing my words wisely, Schaeffer," Kate assured him. "Not in the name of the AMS, but for myself."

Schaeffer smiled. He makes a sign towards the two guards and they both turned around. Schaeffer unbuttons his suit, and loosen up his tie. He speaks in an unnaturally soft voice. "Well, I still have time left to sit around. Why don't we play a game?"

He begins to inappropriately touch Kate, sexually harassing her. First, he touched her legs, then her stomach, and continues all the way up to her face. Kate felt noticeably uncomfortable. Her face became red. Schaeffer gets closer to Kate and attempts to unbutton her shirt. Kate headbutts him in retaliation, forcing him to back down in shock. The two soldiers turned back and aimed their weapons towards her, but Schaeffer waved his hand, signaling them to stand down.

"You touch me like that one more time, and I will slit your neck open!" Kate said to Schaeffer, trying so hard to control her anger.

Schaeffer gets up. He calmly wipes off the blood from his nose, then sucker-punched Kate in the face. He then punches and kicks Kate multiple times as she fell to the ground. Kate groans and cried in pain as Schaeffer mercilessly kicked her. Schaeffer finally stopped and gets her back up to her seat.

"I did warn you, Kate. You should choose your words wisely." Schaeffer calmly said.

"What's the point of torturing me anyway..." Kate said while coughing in pain. "You could have just kill me."

"Yeah... But if I kill you two now, it'll be boring as hell." Schaeffer explains. "Besides, I want to see your face. To see that smile fading. To see you fail, suffer, and die, knowing that no matter what you did, you can't defy fate. You cannot change what was meant to happen."

"Wow... That's one hell of a reason, Schaeffer. You probably should wipe that smirk of yours when I break free."

Schaeffer laughed uncontrollably. He then gets closer to Kate again and grabs her shoulders.

"Don't be a delusional, Kate," Schaeffer whispered to her ear. "You are not going to get out of here. Ever."

Kate glances towards Rogan, slowly regaining her consciousness. Kate chuckles.

"What's so funny?" Schaeffer asks Kate, still close to her face.

Schaeffer then notices the loose knot on one of her arms. Kate quickly took her chance and stabs Schaeffer in the knee. Schaeffer screamed in pain as the knife pierces deep to his bones, crippling him.

" _This_ , is what I call 'funny.'" Kate sarcastically said to Schaeffer's ear.

Kate then pulls out the knife from Schaeffer's knee, cuts the knot tying her feet and threw the knife to one of the soldiers. Kate gets up and tackles the soldier to the ground. She takes a pistol from the soldier and shot him dead. The other soldier tried to shoot Kate, but she takes cover behind the soldier's dead body. Kate shoots behind the dead body and manages to kill the soldier. Schaeffer, limping and bleeding from his wounds, takes a briefcase from the table before running off. Kate notices him and attempts to shoot Schaeffer, but he manages to escape. A soldier saw her and tries to shoot Kate, but she avoids the gunfire. Taking cover behind the wall, Kate ambushes the soldier, pulling him into the room before attacking him with her kicks. Kate knocks him down and beats up the soldier, subduing him. Kate then quickly shuts the steel door. The soldier, barely conscious, attempts to grab a nearby gun and shoot Kate, but having heard his muffled voice, Kate quickly turned around and shoots the soldier repeatedly, emptying her entire magazine in rage.

Kate fell to the ground, exhausted and worn out. She then saw Rogan, who witnessed the entire fight.

"Rogan..." Kate said. She quickly took back her knife from the dead body and removes the duct tape off his mouth.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting," Kate said.

"Are you sure you're Kate? Cause you're clearly not what he described you to be." Rogan joked.

"Well, a lot has happened for the last 12 hours, so yeah I might have changed a little," Kate replied back with a tiny smile. She then cuts off the knot trying his hands and feet.

"You're okay?" Kate asks.

"Trust me, Kate. This old man can take more than that." Rogan assures her.

"Aren't you the same guy who complained that he did all the dirty work just over 10 hours ago?" Kate joked.

"Not funny," Rogan complained. Kate chuckled. Kate helped Rogan get back up. Rogan slowly gets up with a wobble.

"By the way, great job for getting yourself free," Rogan said.

"Yeah. Back in Venice when we still trapped in there, Amy taught me a few things. Guess that trick still comes in handy." Kate explained while pulling a string off the handle of her hidden knife.

"Yeah... I bet she would be proud..." Rogan said. There's a sense of regret on his face.

Rogan then slowly walks towards the table and saw his destroyed PDA. On the left is Kate's PDA, with a cracked screen and nasty scratches on the back. Kate takes her PDA, but then notices Rogan's destroyed PDA.

"Please tell me you've sent the data to your friends. Or you've made a copy..." Kate asks him.

Rogan smiled. "Of course I have. Who do you think I am? A rookie?"

The two stared at each other and burst into laughter. The laughter cut short as Kate notices a group of dead bodies on the far end of the room. One particular body attracts her attention.

"...Mr. President?" Kate asks.

Rogan quickly approaches the body and examines it. The 64-year-old man wears a black suit, pants, and shoes with a white shirt and a red tie. There are multiple bullet wounds on his chest. The blood covering his shirt and suit has dried up, darkened, and coagulated. His skin was pale and cold. His eyes became grey. His cheekbones caved in. Rogan looks around and found other dead bodies, all wearing black suit, and pants, all suffered from gunshot wounds, with pale skin and dried up blood around them.

"They're dead. Killed by gunshot." Rogan said.

"How long they've been dead?" Kate asks.

"The blood around them has dried up, dead eyes, pale skin, sinking cheekbones... I think they have been dead for a while, a week ago or so..." Rogan then notices a badge on one of the bodies. "These are Secret Service agents. They're killed, alongside the President..."

"So it wasn't the President who activated Purge..." Kate concluded.

"It's Schaeffer who did it. Shit." Rogan cursed.

Rogan and Kate heard footsteps coming towards them. Kate looked through the peephole and saw a group of armed soldiers approaching the door.

"Rogan!" Kate quickly took an assault rifle on the floor and threw it towards Rogan. Rogan catches the rifle and charges its handle.

"Kate, give me your PDA," Rogan said.

"What?" Kate said while arming herself with the weapons around her.

"Just do it." Rogan insisted.

Kate takes the PDA from the desk and slides it towards him. Rogan made a quick phone call towards someone. Kate could hear the conversation.

"Hey, it's me," Rogan said.

"Rogan, where the heck are you?" Said a man. "We've been trying to-"

"Listen carefully, I don't have much time left, and neither do you. You got the files?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Good. Fuel your chopper, look at your PDA now and get your ass over here. I'll call you back."

"-but Rogan, wait-"

Rogan hung up the phone. He made small configurations before giving the PDA back to Kate.

"Who do you called?" Kate asks.

"Someone who could take us out of this hellhole," Rogan said while grabbing a gun nearby him.

Rogan and Kate back up against the wall. The footsteps are getting closer to them.

"This is it, Kate. Judgment has arrived." Rogan said.

"I'm not giving up just yet. It ain't over till I say it's over." Kate replied back.

Rogan looked back towards the pile of dead bodies in the back of the room. The cold dead eyes of the president look straight to their souls. Kate walks towards the president's dead body and closes its eyes.

"Rest in peace, Mr. President," Rogan said to the dead body. "We'll finish this once and for all."

The soldiers kicked open the door, and two of them entered the room. Kate and Rogan shoot the soldiers in the head and uses them as a shield to charge through the barrage of gunfire. Kate took a grenade belt from the dead soldier and threw them directly towards a group of soldiers. She shoots the belt, creating a huge blast that killed several soldiers and disorienting others. Kate and Rogan get rid of their human shields and shoots the disoriented soldiers, killing them. The two enter a wide room with passageways to other sections of the room. The entire room is made of brick walls, stacks of crates, and repurposed prison cells, with dusty floors and LED tubes on the ceiling. There's a trail of blood towards a large metal stairway.

"Follow that trail!" Kate told Rogan. Rogan agreed.

The two were ambushed by a group of soldiers waiting for them. Kate manages to tackle some of them down, before fending the soldiers away by firing her rifle. Rogan uses the rifle like a bat and knocks a soldier down. He then took the soldier's shotgun and fired towards more soldiers trying to attack him before shooting a nearby soldier in a point-blank shot. Kate shoots behind a brick wall and kills several other soldiers, going in and out of cover. Rogan takes a pistol from a dead soldier and opened fire to the soldiers one floor above them before quickly took down a soldier ambushing him from behind. Kate gets out of cover and quickly avoids the gunfire from the soldiers above while distracting the soldiers trying to shoot at her. Rogan ambushes the remaining soldiers and finished them off with shotgun blasts. Kate quickly approaches the stairs and shoots the unsuspecting soldiers from below. Rogan quickly came to her aid and killed them off with well-placed shots to the body. The two then climbed up the stairs and move along the upper floors, where they fend off multiple soldiers who tried to ambush them. They quickly hide behind a wall as a heavily armored soldier with a minigun appears and tried to shoot them. Kate gets out of her cover and shoot's the soldier's helmet. Rogan then quickly subdued the soldier and toss him down to the lower ground. Rogan and Kate continue to follow the trail of blood Schaeffer had left while taking down any soldiers stand in their way. The two continued to follow the trail until it disappeared in front of an elevator. Kate pressed the button and the elevator opens. A small puddle of blood stained the metal floor.

"Bingo," Kate said. Rogan and Kate then entered the elevator, leaving behind the dark and humid area. Calming elevator music played as they await the floor to arrive, creating a somewhat awkward situation.

"Well, at least he had a good taste in music..." Kate admitted.

"Can't deny." Rogan agreed.

The elevator stopped and the doors open. Rogan and Kate get out of the elevator and look around. The corridor in front of them is spacious and wide. Rows of windows decorate one side of the wall. On the other side of the wall is paintings of rather very familiar people. The walls are covered in porcelain white paint. The floors are covered in white marble tiles. Stains of blood lead towards somewhere ahead of them.

"Is this..." Kate looks at one of the paintings. "Are we at the White House?!"

"Looks like it." Rogan agreed.

Kate then looks through the window. The sky is dark blue, with a brighter shade of blue in the distance.

"The sun is rising..." Kate said.

"We're running out of time," Rogan said. "Let's go."Kate nods in agreement and the two continue to follow the blood trail.

As they walked through the corridor, two soldiers on patrol saw them and alerted the others. More soldiers coming towards them, with their guns drawn out.

"Well, here we go again." Rogan groans.

Rogan and Kate raised their guns and opened fire.

* * *

"Anyone killed those two yet?!" Schaeffer yelled as he limping down the small flight of stairs. A helicopter has arrived at the roof. Strong winds and loud propeller noises made his voice barely audible.

"What?!" A soldier responded.

"Are those two dead yet?!" Schaeffer yelled louder.

"No sir, not yet." Another soldier responded. "But they're severely outnumbered. They won't last long enough."

"If I see those two still alive after all of this, you're all be dead!" Schaeffer swears. Schaeffer then continued limping. He held the briefcase tighter in his hands.

Schaeffer suddenly heard a door slammed open. He then heard gunshots. He turned around and saw Rogan and Kate tackling and killing nearby soldiers.

"SCHAEFFER!" Kate yelled.

"KILL THEM!" Schaeffer ordered the soldiers around him as he tried to limp faster towards the helicopter.

Rogan and Kate quickly shoot the soldiers coming towards them, then uses their bodies as shields.

Kate gets rid of the body and attempts to shoot Schaeffer, but misses. Schaeffer hides behind a ventilation duct and opened fire alongside the remaining soldiers. Kate and Rogan also hid behind a nearby ventilation duct and take cover.

"You can't stop the inevitable!" Schaeffer yelled. "You should have just run away!"

"Yeah, maybe we should. But I'm not letting a madman like you get away! You're going down, 'Cobalt!'" Rogan yelled back.

The helicopter began to descend. Schaeffer gets out of cover and runs towards it.

"We can't let Schaeffer escape!" Kate said.

Rogan and Kate get out of their cover and attacks the remaining soldiers. Kate shoots one of the soldier's arm and tackles him, while Rogan shoots down a soldier while attacking the other. Kate kills the soldier and tried to shoot Schaeffer, but Schaeffer quickly gets inside the helicopter and closes the door, protecting him from the bullets. Rogan knocks down a soldier before taking his gun and shot him dead. Rogan then threw the gun towards a soldier's head, where Kate knocked him out and make him fall to his death, killing the last of the soldiers.

"C' mon!" Rogan said. The helicopter began to fly away from the roof. Rogan and Kate quickly ran towards the helicopter. Rogan jumped and managed to hold on to one of the landing skids, while Kate manages to grab Rogan's foot and climbed up. The two helped each other and hang on the outside of the helicopter.

"Damn... It is the White House..." Kate said to herself as the chopper slowly hover away from the roof.

"Hey Kate, you ready?" Rogan asks Kate. His hands already touching the door handle.

"Go for it," Kate said.

Rogan takes a breath and quickly opens the helicopter. Inside there's Schaeffer, who looked quite surprised. On the copilot's seat is a soldier who just so happens to look towards them.

"Hi, there!" Rogan said. He then looks at the briefcase Schaeffer is holding. "Mind if I take this?!"

Rogan attacks Schaeffer and the two engage in a brawl. The soldier gets up from his seat and attempts to attack Rogan. Kate gets in and attacks the soldier. An all-out fight broke out. Rogan punches Schaeffer in an attempt to take the briefcase, but Schaeffer manages to fight back despite his injury. Kate desperately tried to beat the soldier but his large posture easily overwhelmed her. Schaeffer takes out a gun and tries to shoot Rogan, but Rogan disarms the pistol and kicks it out of the chopper. Kate tried to attack the soldier with her knife but the soldier avoids her attacks and rammed her towards the chopper wall, knocking her down. The soldier grabs her knife and tries to slit her neck open, but Rogan quickly kicks the soldier and disarms him. Schaeffer attempts to choke Rogan but he manages to hold on. The soldier quickly recovered and takes out a gun, trying to finish off Rogan. Kate manages to hold the gun long enough, put them both in a standstill. The soldier opened fire, but Kate manages to move the pistol and aimed it towards the pilot. The shot was fired and the pilot is dead, sending the helicopter spinning out of control.

As the helicopter spun out of control, Rogan, Kate, Schaeffer, and the soldier tries to regain their balance. In the ensuing chaos, Kate manages to take down the soldier and kicks him off the chopper, plummeting to his death. Rogan breaks free of the chokehold and knocks Schaeffer down. Rogan and Kate manage to hold on and hangs on nearby the door.

"We have to jump! On the count to three!" Rogan said.

"What about the briefcase?" Kate asks.

"Forget about it! We need to bail!" Rogan replied.

"Okay, here we go- Look out!" Kate suddenly yelled. Behind them, Schaeffer knocks Rogan down and attacks Kate. His attacks are filled with adrenaline.

"I'm taking both of you down with me!" Schaeffer exclaimed.

"One!" Rogan yells as he gets back up and fights Schaeffer again.

Rogan launches a series of punches towards Schaeffer, which he dodges. Kate took him off guard and ambushes him with elbow punches and kicks him to the ground.

"Two!" Kate yells.

Schaeffer suddenly opens his briefcase and takes a syringe filled with the pathogen out of it. Using it as a knife of sorts, Schaeffer swings the syringe wildly in hopes of infecting any one of them with the pathogen. Rogan dodges his swings, grabs his arm and swings the syringe back to Schaeffer, stabbing it in his left shoulder.

"Have a taste of your own medicine, will ya?" Rogan whispered to Schaeffer's ear, before kicking him down.

"Shit..." Kate mumbled.

"THREE!" Rogan exclaimed. Rogan pushed Kate and they both jumped off the helicopter. The two made a rough landing on the other side of the roof of the White House. Rogan and Kate looked behind and saw the chopper falling towards them. Rogan and Kate get down and barely avoids getting hit. The chopper crashed to the roof, spinning around and destroys anything in its path with its spinning blades. The tail of the helicopter got off and fell to the ground below. The chopper finally stopped spinning, stopped right at the edge of the roof. The roof now is in a complete wreck, with bits of metal parts all over the place. Sparks and smoke coming out of the helicopter. Nearby the wreckage is Schaeffer's briefcase, damaged but still intact.

Rogan and Kate get back up and slowly walk towards the wreckage. Rogan shoots the locks and opens the briefcase. Inside is several vials of the pathogen, alongside several pre-filled syringes, and several notes containing information. Rogan kneeled down and read one of the notes. His eyes widen in disbelief.

"Schaeffer you're a goddamn lunatic..." Rogan said. Rogan then searched through the notes and found something. Rogan shared the note with Kate.

"Well, at least we no longer need to... run around in circles," Kate said. Rogan raised his eyebrows in agreement and kept the note in his pocket.

Kate then looked at the contents of the briefcase in pure disgust. She kicked the briefcase in anger and it fell from the roof.

Suddenly something was heard from the helicopter wreckage. Rogan and Kate quickly draw their weapons. The door opens, and Schaeffer slowly limped out of the wreckage. There's blood coming out of his forehead.

"You..." Schaeffer mumbled as he points towards them. "Both of you... Why won't you both just die..."

"Goddammit, he's a stubborn one..." Rogan said.

"Both of you... you all gonna DIE here!" Schaeffer exclaims.

Schaeffer then began to twitching erratically. His muscles enlarge and doubled in size. His clothes began to tear, revealing its reddish bulging skin. His chest became larger, with large pulsating veins bulging out on where his heart is located. His right arm mutates so far that it forms five long claws out of its bulging hands. Bits of brown fur began to grow on his body as if he's resembling a bear. His legs began to enlarge and claws sprouting out of his shoes. Large veins bulging out of his right leg. His left side of his face became swollen and mutated, and his eyes slowly turned red. His jaw began to mutate and sharp fangs began to grow.

"You know, you could have just shot him before you stab him with that," Kate said as she watches Schaeffer transform into a monstrosity.

"Yeah. I should." Rogan acknowledges. "My bad."

Schaeffer roared in anguish before suddenly calmed down and walked. He slowly picking up the pace and ran towards them. Rogan and Kate quickly dodge him in time. Kate takes out her PDA and scans Schaeffer. The scan identifies the mutation as Type P-2911, codenamed "Raphael", but just as when the weak point was revealed to her, the PDA began to malfunction.

"C' mon, C' mon..." Kate furiously slaps the PDA to keep it working.

Schaeffer looks at Kate and walks towards her. Kate tosses the PDA to Rogan and quickly ran. Whilst Schaeffer distracted by Kate, Rogan takes her PDA and looks at the scan result. According to the PDA, his bulging veins on his left chest, alongside his right leg is his weak point. Rogan immediately opened fire towards Schaeffer. Schaeffer got distracted and chases after Rogan instead. Rogan manages to avoid his slashes and fired a shotgun blast at point-blank range. Schaeffer stunned for a moment. Blood began dripping down to the floor. Rogan and Kate regroup as Schaeffer slowly gets back up. His wounds heal at an exceptionally fast rate.

"What the hell?" Kate said.

Schaeffer roared. He grabs a piece of the propeller from the chopper and threw it directly towards them. Rogan and Kate quickly dodge it and opened fire towards Schaeffer. Schaeffer chases after Kate and tried to slash him, but Kate manages to avoid him. Rogan and Kate continue to open fire towards Schaeffer, trying to deal as much damage as possible, but the wounds healed just as fast as they inflict it.

"How the heck he's still alive?!" Kate exclaimed.

"We gotta find a way to kill him!" Rogan shouted.

Schaeffer runs towards Rogan and swipes his claw furiously. Rogan manages to avoid them and ambushed him with an elbow punch. Rogan then makes a series of jabs towards Schaeffer's face before kicking him. Schaeffer quickly gets back up and grabs a piece of scrap metal nearby him and threw it towards Rogan. Rogan dodges the throw, but Schaeffer suddenly kicked him in the stomach. Rogan fell to the ground, yelling in pain. Schaeffer attempts to stomp him but Rogan manages to roll away from danger. Kate quickly helped Rogan by shooting Schaeffer's eye. Schaeffer turns his attention to her and he walked towards her as if he's an invulnerable wall. Kate grabs a scrap metal and swings it around like a baseball bat. The scrap hits Schaeffer but he didn't even flinch or felt much pain. Schaeffer grabs the scrap and threw it away. Kate rolled away from Schaeffer's slashes, but he kicks her hard, knocking her down. Kate quickly gets back up and tried to punch him, but Schaeffer grabs her fist and pushes it away. He then pushes Kate with such a powerful force, knocking her down with ease.

"Foo...lishness" Schaeffer suddenly uttered. He looks surprised after uttering those words.

"W-what?!" Kate asked. "Did you j-just talk?!"

"Y-yeah. I am." Schaeffer said. He then looks at his arms, embracing the mutation that bonds with him and roared. He then laughed, impressed with his new powers.

"You all gonna d-die here," Schaeffer smirks.

"You gotta be kidding me," Rogan said to himself. He then shoots at Rogan, trying to get him away from Kate. Schaeffer grabs a scrap metal and threw it towards Rogan. Rogan managed to avoid it and continues to shoot at Schaeffer. Schaeffer runs towards Rogan and attacks him, swinging his large claw around. Kate gets back up and tries to help Rogan by shooting at Schaeffer, but Kate gets too close to Schaeffer and he kicks her away towards the helicopter wreckage. Kate hits the helicopter door and cried in pain as she felt an immense pain on her arm. A piece of scrap pierced through her left arm. She tried to get back up but struggled with the pain. Nearby, she saw Rogan desperately trying to beat Schaeffer, using everything he's got left. Kate lets out a huge sigh as she managed to sit down and ease the pain for a moment. She takes a breath and quickly pulled the scrap off her arm. She looks around the wreckage, trying to find something to stop the bleeding. She gets up and frantically looks around the wreckage. She pulls the pilot's body and rips his shirt, using it as a makeshift bandage. As she wrapped her injury with the piece of fabric, something on the chopper attracted her attention. Underneath the backseats, there's a weapon crate, damaged but still intact. Kate quickly opened it and found a functional spear gun, with several arrow bolts inside. Kate instinctively takes the gun and loaded it up.

Meanwhile, Rogan desperately tried to take down Schaeffer. Rogan fired direct shots to Schaeffer but he didn't even flinch. Schaeffer tried to slash him but Rogan barely managed to escape. Rogan managed to punch him and tried to kick him but Schaeffer managed to grab his foot and make him lose his balance and fell to the ground. Rogan tried to get up, but Schaeffer quickly lifts him up and choke him with his left arm. Schaeffer's immense strength quickly overwhelmed him. His face turned red as he struggles to break free.

"It ends here, Rogan," Schaeffer said. "So long, legend."

Schaeffer cocks his claws, preparing to impale him. Kate fired her spear gun and pierce through Schaeffer's right foot. Schaeffer diverts his attention to his foot and pulls out the spear easily. However, his calm demeanor turned into wonder and fear as his wounds healed slower than before.

"Why... Doesn't it heal immediately...?" Schaeffer uttered.

Rogan quickly aims his shotgun and shoots him in his leg, breaking free from Schaeffer's grasp. Schaeffer felt immense pain as blood coming out his legs. Schaeffer tried to slash Rogan but he managed to get away and keep his distance from him, reunited with Kate.

"I see you got a new toy," Rogan commented.

"Yeah. Got 4 bolts left though." Kate said as she reloads the spear gun.

"Let's make it count then," Rogan said while cocks his shotgun.

Schaeffer screamed in anger as he ran towards them trying to slash them in half. Rogan and Kate quickly dodge the attack. Kate fired her spear gun, piercing through his arm. Schaeffer pulls the spear out and throws it towards Kate, but she manages to dodge it. Kate uses her machine gun as her secondary weapon and shoots at Schaeffer, distracting him. Rogan ambushes him from behind and fired multiple rounds to his back. Schaeffer, who became increasingly agitated, swings his claws towards him, but Rogan manages to avoid it. Rogan then grabs a scrap metal and swings it towards Schaeffer, temporarily knocking him back. Kate reloads her spear gun and shoots it, piercing through Schaeffer's right leg. Schaeffer screamed in agony as the wound forces him to limp. Rogan opened fire towards Schaeffer. Schaeffer managed to withstand the incoming gunfire and quickly snatch Rogan's shotgun away before knocking him down. As Schaeffer tried to finish Rogan off, Kate fired again, this time pierce through his bulging veins on his chest. Schaeffer quickly turned his back and lunges towards Kate. She manages to avoid the attack but accidentally drops the spear gun. Kate tried to grab the gun again, but Schaeffer kicks it off and it fell from the roof. Kate barely managed to avoid Schaeffer's slashes, nearly loses her balance. Rogan takes back his shotgun and shoots at Schaeffer again. Schaeffer pulled out the spear off his foot and throws it towards Rogan, missing by just an inch. Schaeffer then grabs a piece of scrap metal and swing it around like a madman, almost slicing Kate in half. Rogan grabs the spear and pushed it back into his right leg. He then grabs the other spear on his chest and forcing it to pierce through deeper. Kate kicks Schaeffer's foot, forcing him to kneel and drop his scrap metal. Kate took this opportunity and jumps towards Schaeffer's back. As Schaeffer moved around to get rid of Kate off his back, Kate takes out her knife and stabs his neck, slitting it open. Blood spewing out everywhere as Kate continues to cut Schaeffer's neck, moving her knife around to ensure his death. Schaeffer tried to get Kate off his back but Rogan continues to push the spear to its chest, preventing him from making lots of movement.

At long last, Schaeffer finally succumbs. Slowly, his body reverts to normal. Both of his knees were on the ground. There's a huge blood puddle forming around him. Schaeffer finally collapses and falls to the ground. Kate is still standing behind Schaeffer's body, completely worn out. She slowly dropped her blood-soaked knife off her bloodied hands.

"I need... to wash this filthy blood... off my hands..." Kate uttered as she slowly walks away from Schaeffer's body and walks towards a nearby water hose.

Before Kate could wash up, Schaeffer suddenly gets back up from the dead. He has a large wound on his neck and the spears still stuck on his body. He tried to walk towards Rogan, but his injuries prevent him from taking his first step. Schaeffer falls to his knees, unable to move any longer. Blood slowly dripping off his face.

"So... this is i-it," Schaeffer said in a barely audible voice. "Get myself killed by a retired agent, a-and an out-of-place model."

Schaeffer then chuckled. His mutation starts to take over his body but his weakened state preventing him from turning back.

"At the very least... I took d-down the AMS with me..."

Schaeffer began to laugh, but it is interrupted by a bloodied cough. Schaeffer spits out blood from his mouth.

"You think you've won, huh?" Schaeffer continued. "N-no, you can't stop the P-purge. It is irreversible. You really think killing me would be the end of it? N-no no, it won't stop anything... I have friends... L-lots of friends... And they're coming for you until all of you are dead. You cut off one head... t-two more will rise in its place... Like I said... Y-you can't stop the inevitable."

"Say all you want, Schaeffer," Rogan said. "But you can't expect us to back down from the fight by just that simple threat. Mark our words, Schaeffer: We will rise. The AMS may be dead, but like you said: You cut off one head, and two more will rise. Sounds fair to me. And if anything happens next. If anyone comes in our way. Anything and everything that poses a threat to mankind, we'll take care of them, one bullet at a time."

Schaeffer looks quite surprised but accepts his answer regardless. "I'll be looking forward to it... in the b-beyond..."

Schaeffer then makes a sinister smile. A smile of pure unfiltered evil.

"Long... Live... The Prov-"

Kate shoots Schaeffer in the head before he could even finish, killing him for good. Kate fired more shots to his body and emptying her clip before kicking him off the roof. The body fell face-first to the ground. Schaeffer's body began to twitch until it eventually stops. Blood slowly coming out from his body.

Kate lets out a sigh. "Is it over?"

Before Rogan could even say "Yes, it is over.", a car suddenly crashes to the roof from behind and hits the helicopter wreckage, sending it falling from the roof and explodes.

"No, it's not!" Rogan said as he pushed Kate out of the way from another car coming towards them. Rogan and Kate looks behind and saw something behind the skyscrapers. The thing destroys nearby buildings and threw its debris straight towards them.

"Get downstairs! Get to downstairs!" Rogan yelled.

Rogan and Kate quickly ran back inside the building, barely managed to avoid getting crushed. As Rogan and Kate retrace their steps and heading towards the ground floor, they could feel the whole building shaking and crumbling due to the debris.

"Okay, what are we going to do?!" Kate asked Rogan while running.

Rogan stopped for a moment in front of a broken window. Rogan then looks around before focusing his attention towards a hotel across the White House. He points towards the building. "See that hotel over there?! I got a plan, but we have to get there."

"Alright, alright, let's head there ASAP," Kate said.

The two continued to run, retracing their steps back to the ground floor. The two eventually reached downstairs and heads to the main entrance. Rogan kicks the door open, allowing them to run and head towards the hotel.

* * *

As they ran across the field, a helicopter is hovering above them. A man with a voice presumably in his late 40s yelled through the loudspeaker. The voice is somehow familiar to the ears of both Rogan and Kate.

"ROGAN! Where the hell are you going?!" The man yelled.

"GET TO THE HOTEL!" Rogan yelled back as he points towards the hotel. "WAIT FOR US AT THE ROOF!"

The ground began to shake, causing Rogan and Kate to momentarily lose their balance. They looked behind and saw the thing knocked down a skyscraper, destroying the White House's west wing.

"GO!" Rogan yelled. "We'll meet you there!"

"You better hurry Rogan, the chopper won't stand a chance against that thing." The man replied. The helicopter then flies away from them as more and more debris was thrown around.

Rogan and Kate quickly get back up and ran as fast as they could. They quickly opened the White House gates and ran heading towards the hotel. The two continue to run, passing through a horde of creatures, and shoots at them whenever necessary. The creatures noticed them and quickly gave chase. Kate looks back and saw a giant white pillar crash and wreck through cars and buildings.

"Don't look back!" Rogan told her as he shoots a creature blocking his way. Kate nods in agreement and decides to keep it up.

The two arrived at the hotel entrance. Above them, they can see the helicopter hovering around the hotel roof. Rogan and Kate climbed up the stairs and enters the lobby. A group of creatures has already invaded the hotel, which explains its seemingly abandoned state. The lobby is spacious, with ceramic tiles covering the entire floor and glass panels covering the walls. However, the comforting looking environment gets tarnished by many briefcases on the floor, bloodstains around the dead bodies, and creatures roaming around the hall. Rogan and Kate quickly get inside, shoots any nearby creatures around and quickly explore the place.

"Over there!" Kate said as she points towards an elevator nearby. Rogan quickly ran and press the elevator buttons. The elevator arrives on time as the horde is closing in. Rogan and Kate quickly get inside the elevator and close it before the horde gets them. The elevator goes up, leaving the horde behind.

Kate lets out a sigh of relief. Rogan leans back against the wall and had a short break. Their small moment of safety abruptly ended when the ground began to shake. Out of nowhere, a large truck crash through the glass walls of the hotel and explodes, breaking all the glass around the hall.

"That thing is getting closer..." Kate muttered.

"Yeah..." Rogan agreed. He then looked up on the screen. The elevator is approaching the highest floor.

"This is it, Kate..." Rogan said. "We're so close.."

"Don't worry, I have not come all this far to die," Kate assured Rogan.

The door opens, and the two quickly shoot the creatures around them. Following the signs leading to the roof, Rogan and Kate traverse through the empty hallway. A horde of creatures suddenly break through and coming out from the emergency stairs, having followed the gunshots. Everything turns into utter chaos.

"Oh crap, crap, crap!" Kate cursed.

"Run! Run!" Rogan said to Kate. The two make their run while the horde chase after them. They managed to find the stairs and quickly make their climb towards the roof. Below them, the horde of creatures continues to chase after them. Their mindless behavior causing them to pile up and crushing each other. Some even went off the railings and fell.

"Don't stop!" Rogan said. He then fired several shots to the nearby creatures, slowing them down. Kate climbed up and fired more shots to the creatures below them.

Rogan and Kate arrived at the roof. Rogan kicks the door open, allowing them to keep running. Up ahead, the helicopter is waiting, hovering just over the edge. Rogan and Kate quickly ran across the roof while the creatures are right behind them.

"You're almost there! C' mon!" The man said through the speaker.

Rogan and Kate instinctively ditch their guns to run faster. The creatures aren't fazed by the gun dropping and continue to chase after them. Rogan and Kate ran as fast as they could and makes the jump, barely managed to hang onto the landing skids. As the creatures made their jump as well, the pilot hovers away from the roof, causing them to fall to their deaths.

One of the creatures managed to grab and hang on to Kate's foot. As more creatures hang on to her foot, the chopper begins to tilt to the left, getting unstable due to the weight.

"Get your bloody hands off my foot!" Kate said while kicks one of the creatures in the face with her other foot. Kate kicks the creature's head as hard as she could, but the creatures hold on tight. As her last resort, she takes a knife and cuts off the shoelaces off her boot. The boot slipped off her foot and the creature loses its grip, letting it and the others fall to their deaths. Kate accidentally slipped and almost fall down, barely able to hold onto Rogan's trousers. Rogan carefully reached her hand and pull her back up to safety.

"Great. I've lost my boot." Kate complained.

"You're okay?" Rogan asked.

Kate looked at her bare foot. "Yeah. I think."

Rogan boards the helicopter and helps Kate to get onboard as well.

"Hey there fellas." The man said. "Seems like you had one hell of a day."

Rogan and Kate looked around and saw the man piloting the chopper. The man has a greyish black brushed-back hair and wears a grey formal vest, a light blue shirt with dark blue necktie, grey pants, and black boots. Rogan, in particular, seems very surprised.

"G?! What are you doing here?!" Rogan asked.

"Saving a friend, that's why." G simply said, still wearing the headset. "Nice to see you again, Kate." G then said to Kate. "You look good by the way."

"Trust me, I've looked better than this," Kate said.

"Question. Where do you get this chopper?" Rogan asks G.

"Borrowed actually. I borrowed it from your brother." G said.

"He let you fly one?! How could he just let you do that?" Rogan said.

"Wait, brother?" Kate jumps into the conversation. "You didn't tell me you have a-"

"Okay, better question, when did you learn to fly a helicopter?!" Rogan cuts off Kate and asks G, still confused by the situation. "You never learned how to fly one, right?!"

"I did learn how to fly a helicopter," G said. "When I was in the army back in 1989-"

"Guys?" Kate saw something in front of them.

"That was more than 20 years ago!" Rogan yelled. "It was way different back then!"

"Uhh, guys?!" Kate said again.

"Hey, I still got this! Do you have any idea how ungrateful you are when you're telling me this after I just-"

"GUYS! LOOK!" Kate suddenly cuts their banter short while pointing at a skyscraper falling in front of them.

"WOAH!" G said while quickly avoids the falling rubbles. Rogan and Kate almost lost their balance and hangs on to the nearby railings. Collective sounds of grunts, screams, and curses are heard, loud and clear.

"What the hell G?!" Rogan angrily said.

"You started the whole thing, Rogan!" G yelled. "Hang on!"

More screams and curses can be heard as the chopper moves in a zig-zag motion, avoiding any rubble that falls in the way. The chopper went through the falling rubbles and flies towards safety. Rogan, Kate, and G let out a collective sigh of relief.

"We're alive! Holy crap I can't believe it!" Kate said ecstatically.

"See?! I told you! I've got it under control!" G said as he smiled from ear to ear.

"Alright, alright. You win." Rogan admitted defeat. "But we're not done. Once we're out of here, you got a lot of questions to answer."

"Deal." G agreed.

The friendly banter suddenly interrupted by a loud roar. G dives upwards to avoid further danger, showing Rogan and Kate the full view of the barren, ruined city of Washington. Rogan, Kate, and G managed to get a closer look at the creature attacking them; A giant human-like creature composed entirely of rocks and earth materials. A faint reddish-orange glow shines through the small gaps around its body. As the thing walks, large earth pillars sprouting out around its body as if it helps supports the massive size of the creature. Its head was a horrible mismatch between a human and a goat, with noticeable humanoid mouth and eyes and goat horns and ears.

Kate and Rogan have faced dangerous creatures before. For Rogan, it's when he fought the last creation of the late Mad Doctor. For Kate, it's when she fought a monster made of ice that came back to life every time it got defeated, and that time when she fought a giant demonic angel that was beaten simply by pure luck. However, they have never fought something of this size, nor that they have prepared for it.

"He just had to put one final shit for us to fight against, huh?" Kate complained.

"He? Who's he?" G asked. "You mean Cobalt?"

"I'll explain later, it's a long story," Rogan assured him.

Kate scanned the creature, identifying the creature as Type P-0609, simply named "Urizel". As the PDA attempts to scan its weak points, the PDA starts to not responding. The words "Scanner Error", appeared on the screen, before the screen goes black.

"C' mon, c' mon..." Kate said as she repeatedly tapped the PDA, hoping for any kind of activity. Alas, the PDA shows no signs of life, showing a black screen for good.

"Damn," Kate said. " I guess it's up to Lady Luck now."

"Dang it..." Rogan muttered.

The giant creature noticed the helicopter and tries to hit it with its hands, destroying a few buildings along the way. G quickly avoids it and flies to a safer distance.

"I am Urizel," The creature asked. "I shall guide this world to the right path. You shall not escape from my judgment."

The creature then punches the ground and earth pillars sprouting out from the ground. G quickly dives upward to avoid it. G tries to get away, but the creature punches the ground again and forms a large earth pillar in front of the chopper, blocking their escape. G tries to get to the other way, but the earth pillars continue to sprout out no matter where they are, as if it's preventing them from escaping.

"We can't get away! These giant rocks just keep blocking our way out!" G exclaimed.

"Damn it..." Kate cursed.

"Seems like there's something hidden beneath that body..." Rogan said. "If we can chip away those rocks, I think we have a shot to kill this thing."

"Maybe. Worth a shot I guess?" Kate asks.

"Gotta go all out on this one..." Rogan agreed. He then turned around and said to G. "G! Got some spare toys for us to use?!"

"Uhh..." G looks around the dashboard, before finds something and flips a switch. Two mounted machine guns slide from the back of the helicopter and lock in place in front of the open doors.

"Oh yeah... That's what I'm talking about." Kate said as she gets ready to fire the gun.

"G, try to get us closer and keep the chopper steady!" Rogan said.

"I'll do my best." G said, before looking at the clock on the dashboard. "We don't have much time though, we're not getting out of here if that thing is still alive!"

"How much time do we have?!" Kate asks.

"It's 6.01. We only have around one hour to get out of here." G said.

"Oh god, may you have mercy on our souls..." Kate muttered. Her face shows signs of depression.

"Hey." Rogan comforts her. "Remember what he told you."

"Never give up hope... Right..." Kate said to herself. She slowly regained her confidence. "Right... Never give up hope."

"G, go for it," Rogan said.

"Let's do this." G said.

G makes the dive and flies towards the creature. He circles around the creature, allowing Rogan and Kate to fire and slowly chipping away its body. A bright orange glow shines through the gaps of the creature's body. The creature tries to hit the chopper, but G avoids it and flies away, only to turn back and heading towards it. G flips a switch, arming the missiles in the chopper.

"Bombs away." G said. He presses the trigger and launches several missiles, exploding on the creature's body and chipping away more of its protected shell. The creature tried to shot the chopper down by sprouting out rocks out of its body towards them, but Kate managed to shot them down. G decides to bait the creature around by launching more missiles, this time exploded on his back. The creature flinched and roared.

"You cannot win. Resistance is futile." The creature said. He then proceeds to punch the ground and creates a wave of earth pillars sprouting out. G narrowly avoids the pillars whilst Rogan and Kate continue to shoot the creature's body. G flies closer to the creature and firebombs its body, destroying a huge chunk of his rocky body. Their combined efforts worked as Rogan, Kate, and G watch in awe as a part of the creature's true form was unveiled: a large humanoid monstrosity with glowing pulsating veins all over its body. A large mass of blistering veins piled up and enlarge at certain spots.

"Kate! See that bulging veins?! We need to shoot those!" Rogan said.

"Got it!" Kate gives an OK sign. Kate and Rogan focus their fire towards one of the bulging veins on the creature's body, spilling glowing blood to the ground. G flies close towards the creature and fired more missiles towards the creature.

"Enough." The creature said. The creature punches the ground and disappeared, turning into a large pile of sand. Rogan, Kate, and G look around, trying to find the creature's location.

"Where did it go?" Rogan wondered.

At that time, the glass windows on the chopper began to crack. G noticed the glass, moving with such a large vibration. G ducks as the glass then shattered into pieces, shocking both Rogan and Kate. Kate then felt a large vibration in her pocket, where she kept her dead PDA. She takes out her PDA and realizing the LCD screen is vibrating and slowly crack to pieces. Kate jumps out of her skin as the screen exploded into tiny fragments of glass.

"What's going on?" Kate asks.

Rogan looks at the glass shards fell to the chopper floor. The shards move around before mysteriously fly away and fade into nothingness. Rogan grabs one of the shards and watches as it slowly disintegrates into particles of sand and disappeared from his hands.

"What the hell?" Rogan whispered.

"Yeah. And what the hell is that?" G responded as he looked at something beside them.

Rogan and Kate turned their backs and saw trails of sands circling around, creating a hurricane. They saw a nearby skyscraper, made of glass, breaking apart by itself. The glasses disintegrate into grains of sand and sucked into that hurricane

"It's turning every glass nearby into sand..." Kate said in fascination.

In the center of that hurricane, the creature reforms, its true body exposed. Its glowing body shines through that wind spiral.

"There it is," Rogan said as he aims the machine gun towards it.

The creature snapped its fingers and a trail of sand flies around and chases the chopper. The sands semi solidified into snake-like creatures. G flies away, avoiding the attacks while Rogan shoots down the snakes, disintegrates them into dust that flies back into the hurricane. G fired missiles towards the creature, but the sands circling around the creature protects it.

"Be gone," The creature said in a more demonic voice. The sands circling around it moves around its arm and solidified into a sword-like shape.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Rogan said.

"G!" Kate shouts.

"Yeah, I see it!" G replies back. He pushed the control stick and makes a deep dive, pulled at the last second to avoid impact. Hovering close to the ground, G watch as the creature slice through buildings like butter and tried to cut them in half. G flies nearby the creature's leg, allowing Kate and Rogan to fire an enlarged bulge in its exposed knee until it explodes and spewing blood. The creature roared in pain as G continues to hover around its body, allowing Kate and Rogan to shoot its bulging veins. The creature screamed in utter pain and rage.

"Enough." The creature said in a very agitated voice. He disintegrates into sand and reforms back several blocks away from them. He absorbs the sands circling around it and punches the ground hard. Thousands of giant pillars pierce through the ground, moving towards the chopper.

"G, Get us the hell out of here!" Rogan said.

G circles around the buildings as the pillars pierce through the ground an destroy everything in its wake. Buildings began to crumble to the ground below. Skyscrapers collapsed and killing anything that it crushes and anything left alive on the streets died by impaling. As the pillars grow taller and bigger, G turns towards the creature and opened fire with a mounted machine gun. Kate and Rogan shoot the pillars, causing them to crumble and disintegrates into sands. As the sands slowly came back towards the creature, G fired and destroys one of the creature's bulging veins, leaving the last one on his chest. The creature screamed and kneeled, trying to withstand and survive.

"I think this is it, we're almost there!" Kate said.

"You all are going to die now." The creature swore. The creature absorbs every sand around him and disintegrates, forming a giant sandstorm from its sandy remains. The winds are so powerful that heavy trucks got blown away. G tries as best he could to prevent the chopper from blown away by the wind.

"Goddammit, this damn thing! I can't see anything!" G yelled.

"Where the hell is he?!" Kate said while trying her best to keep her eyes open.

The creature reappeared just next to them, cocking its arm.

Rogan noticed the creature and rushed to G's aid. He quickly grabs the control stick and quickly pushed it down, sending the chopper on a freefall.

"Rogan, what are you doing?!" Kate yelled.

"Saving our asses!" Rogan said.

"I got this, I got this, I got this..." G calmed down and refocused. G slowly regained control with the control stick as the chopper spins uncontrollably. Alarms began to beep, telling him to pull up. Meanwhile, Kate and Rogan hold on to dear life as they continue to spin.

"Pull up. Pull up. Pull up." The alarm repeatedly said those words.

"C' mon G!" Kate screamed.

"I know!" G screamed as he pulls the control stick. The chopper slowly goes up and flies back up, getting dangerously close to crashing. G screamed as the chopper flies up. Kate and Rogan looked at each other and cheered in joy.

"Oh my god! We're not dead!" Kate screamed in pure joy.

"Back in business!" Rogan said.

G let the wind carry the chopper through the sandstorm. The creature noticed the chopper and looks in pure anger and confusion.

"How are you still alive?" The creature asks.

Kate and Rogan opened fire to the creature. In response, the creature forms a large shield made of solidified sand. As they keep firing, Kate's machine gun ran out of bullets. Rogan's gun also ran out shortly after.

"I'm out!" Kate said.

"Me too," Rogan said.

With the gunfire stopped, the creature raised its fists. The shield disintegrates and turns into giant rocks. The creature punches the ground, and the rocks fall to the ground like asteroids. The rocks crush through anything and everything in its path, causing many skyscrapers to collapse like dominos. G makes a dive and goes into an underground tunnel. Many falling debris fall to the ground, creating large amounts of dust. Certain parts of the tunnel collapse, creating a small avalanche of dirt.

"G, you have any more weapons for us to use?" Rogan asked G.

"Under your seats! There's a rocket launcher underneath your seats!" G said.

Kate quickly looked under and found two weapon crates. She quickly opens it and found a set of RPG-7's alongside several grenades.

"What about you G? Got anything left in the chopper?" Kate asks.

"I still have some missiles ready to use. Machine guns as well." G said.

After a moment to think, Rogan snapped his fingers. "G, you need to distract the creature with the machine guns. We'll penetrate its defenses with the grenade launchers. Can you do it?"

"Worth a shot, I guess." G said.

"Alright. Let's finish this." Rogan said.

The chopper gets out of the tunnel and flies back up. G fired the machine guns towards the creature, prompting the creature to form a new shield.

"Here we go!" G said. He pushed the control stick forward and flies straight towards the creature. G concentrates his fire towards the shield, slowly making a penetrable hole. As he gets closer, he fired his missiles towards the hole he made on the shield. The missile exploded and leaves a larger hole on the shield. Kate reloads her launcher as the chopper gets dangerously close to the creature. There's nervousness seen through her eyes.

"NOW!" G makes a sudden turn to the right, allowing Kate and Rogan to shoot through the hole. Kate takes a deep breath as she aims the creature's chest through that hole.

"Eat this!" Kate said. She pulled the trigger and the rocket flew, passes through the hole and blew up on the creature's neck. The creature flinched in extreme shock and pain, severely weakened him. The sands no longer spin around it, as if it was stripped of its powers.

"We did it," Kate said.

"Fire everything you've got!" Rogan said. Kate and Rogan fired multiple rockets towards the creature. The creature slowly got knocked back by the blasts, with every blast weakened the creature even further. Rogan, Kate, and G then fired a barrage of rockets heading towards the creature. The missiles crash together and create a large explosion. A cloud of thick black smoke covers the place the creature once stand.

"Did we do it?" Kate asks. "I have one more rocket left here, might as well use it all."

G tried to look through the smoke. "Can't see anything."

The creature walked out of the black smoke. Its body is damaged beyond repair. Cracks visibly appear throughout its glowing body. Sands around him begin to repair its body though at a slow rate. The creature seems alive, but also seems dead, as if it has died from the inside and all it remains is its shell. The creature walked slowly towards the helicopter, then it begins to run. Its arm turned into a sword, arm cocked back and ready to stab.

"It's still alive?!" Kate said as she quickly reloads her last rocket.

"G!" Rogan screamed at the top of his lungs. His voice cracked. Kate reloaded and quickly fired her last rocket without aiming. It explodes on the creature's left shoulder, but it didn't do much to stop its momentum. G quickly tilts the control stick in a panic but the creature is too close for them to get away safely. With their fate seemingly sealed, Kate, Rogan, and G all closed their eyes in anticipation, waiting for the inevitable, for them to blow up in a spectacular fiery helicopter explosion, ending their journey in a tragic end.

But instead of blowing up, they kept breathing. They thought that the creature's sword would have pierced through the chopper's fuselage and killed them all, yet their bodies have yet blown to bits. Slowly, they opened their eyes. They're still inside the helicopter. G is still on the pilot's seat, Kate still looks away and holding her rocket launcher tight, and Rogan had his back against the door, grabbing the railings on one hand and his launcher on the other. In front of them is the creature, standing in place, seemingly lifeless. The creature is just inches away from piercing the chopper in half, yet it stayed in place like a statue. Its veins no longer shine, and his wounds no longer heal itself.

"Is it over?" Rogan asks. No one around spoke a word due to the shock.

Kate then slowly gets up and touches the tip of the sword the creature formed on his arm, fracturing and collapsing a small part of the sword in the process. The creature stayed in place. No life can be seen through its rocky eyes. With assurance, she then gently kicked the creature forward. The creature's legs break apart and send the creature to fall down to the ground. It's now fragile body collided with the ground below and shatter to pieces like porcelain. No signs of life were found afterward.

Kate lets out a smile as she collapsed to the chopper floor. "It's finally over."

"We did it... We did it." Rogan said. He shared a fist bump with G, who lets out a sigh of relief and laugh in joy.

"Alright. Let's get the hell out of here." G said. "Gotta avoid the fireworks."

"Where are we going?" G then asks Rogan.

"Home," Rogan said.

"Alright, we're going home." G smiled.

G pushes the control stick ever so slightly and flies the chopper away from the city.

* * *

The chopper flies out of DC at a fast speed. Kate looks back to the city below her, which were abandoned, devoid of life, and soon, to be a wasteland. Meanwhile, Rogan and G are having a friendly conversation.

"So you got saved by my brother from a mad army commander, and brought in a young teenager with a prosthetic arm in the process?!" Rogan asks G.

"I mean, she saved my life first. Gotta return the favor, y' know?" G smiled.

"Well, the girl had no home and no parents now, according to your story... So, I guess Elizabeth and you will be her stepparents, I guess?" Rogan joked.

"Hey, nothing's been decided yet. Plus, you have no right to intervene in my family matters." G joked back.

Kate smiled to see the two friends bicker and laugh, but her smile slowly fades away when she thought about Schaeffer and her friends who lost their lives. She ponders upon Schaeffer's plans, and question whether or not his actions were justified. Whether it is alright to sacrifice millions for the sake of humanity's future. Then there's the threat Schaeffer made about the group that he was a part of. Kate believed that it existed, and are formulating a plan to fully accomplish their goals and continuing Schaeffer's legacy, yet she questions when will they strike, and will she be prepared for the day when they strike back.

"Kate!" Rogan snaps her out of her daydream.

"Huh... what?" Kate seems flustered.

"What are you gonna do next?" Rogan asks. "I mean, the AMS is gone, and you have no home."

Kate thought about it for a while before answer it with a simple "I don't know."

"What about you?" Kate continued. "What are you planning next?"

"Yeah." G joins in. "Your search for Cobalt is over, right? So, what's next?"

"I don't know..." Rogan admitted. "Not sure if my brother could convince his fellow commanding officers to agree with this, but I had a dream ever since I left the AMS. I would build a group of remarkable people, those who are willing to fight for the sake of others. The group will private, non-affiliated, maybe could have some collaborations with the military and will take part in various tasks to ward off and prevent the outbreaks from happening again. Find a cure to all of this too, perhaps?"

"Sound like the AMS to me, but better." G smiled.

"You can say so. Though it may take a ton of time, and money, and reg-"

The group heard a loud bang from far away. They looked behind and saw a large explosion, followed by a huge shockwave.

"Are we in the clear yet?" Kate asks.

"We're good." G assured her. "We're far enough from the blast zone. We are safe and sound."

"Ah." Kate seems confused but trusts his words. She then moves towards the open door and sits on the nearby chair. The gentle breeze calmed her mind. She takes out her PDA, now dead and destroyed. She contemplates for a moment before throws the PDA out of the window. She then takes out her badge and ID. She looks at it. The shiny gold emblem of the AMS, a symbol of dedication, protection, and justice for all humanity. Besides the emblem is her ID card. Her name, her photograph, her rank, all gained through hard work. She takes great pride in it, but to realize that it all meant nothing and that her hard work is repaid by a painful betrayal hurts her to the core.

She looked into a pocket on her ID and takes out a small photograph of her and her fallen colleagues. A photo of her, Alex, Aaron, Mikaela, Tyrone, and many others having a fun dinner together. She shed a tear. She folds the picture and keeps it in her pocket. She wipes her tears and gives a final look to her badge and ID. The more she looked on the badge, the more she remembers the memories she had together with her friends, and the painful memories, that stained them.

In disgust, she then threw the badge out of the chopper, falling to the abyss below.

Kate takes a deep breath. Her burdens seem to have been lifted off her shoulders. She lays down her head to the wall and drifts to sleep. Her nightmare is over.


	8. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

* * *

"Hey, wake up." G said.

"Uhh..." Kate groans as she wakes up. The bright sunlight disorients her. She then looks around and realized that they're not in America. All she sees now is the endless blue sea.

"...where are we?" Kate asks.

"Home." Rogan simply said.

"This is Charlie-Hotel Zero Zero Niner-One. Control, do you copy?" G said to the radio.

"This is control. Copy." A man responded through the radio. "How's the Peacock?"

"Windows are gone, and the body isn't in good shape. Otherwise, she's still working."

"Oh come on, G. Did I forget to tell you to keep her safe?"

"We barely just got away from being burnt to a crisp, gimme a break."

"Hahaha, just kidding. Truth to be told, she's old now, needs some upgrading after this." The man chuckled.

"Yeah. She really needs one." G agrees. "Got a place for us to land?"

"We're got you covered. Landing Pad 6 good for you to land."

"Alright, see ya in 10 minutes." G said. G shuts down the radio and continues to fly the chopper. Meanwhile, Rogan gets up from his seat and looks out from the door.

"Ah... Home sweet home." Rogan smiled.

Kate looks out of the door and saw one island in the distance. As they get closer, she saw more islands, teeming with life. The waters around the islands have a crystal clear blue color. As the chopper gets even closer, she can see a small but bustling city close to the beach. On the waters, quite far from the islands, are large man-made walls under construction. She can vaguely see the builders working hard, lifting stones and applying cement.

"Woah..." Kate simply said in awe. "It's been a while since I saw something that's not brooding, murky and dull."

"Well, I've been here for a couple of days. Honestly still can't believe it." G smiled. "Never thought I would see one normal city, in the times of chaos and danger."

"So, this is what you've been cooking for the last 3 years," Kate said to Rogan. "This is crazy."

"Welcome to Hawaii," Rogan simply said. He proudly smiled.

* * *

The chopper landed on Landing Pad 6, located in the shallow waters of the nearby beach. On the wooden bridge connecting the pad to the mainland, a man was waiting for them. The man was in his mid-30s, has short brown hair, and wears a black T-shirt, a military vest, combat trousers, and black boots.

"Okay. The damage you've done to my Peacock is worse than I thought." The man said.

"Cut me some slack, Michael." G said. "Besides, you're going to repair the chopper anyway, right?"

"You're an ass." The man sarcastically said before chuckled and giving a big bro hug towards G. "Good to see you back in one piece."

"Yeah, good to see you too." G smiled. "How's Maya?"

"She's fine. She borrowed my gaming laptop. It was never to be seen to this day."

"Hah! Serves you right." Rogan jumps in.

"C'mon Tom, it's not like I'm playing all day long." The man said.

Kate simply looks from behind and chuckled for a moment or two. The man then noticed her.

"Aaaanyway, who's she?" The man changes the conversation. "You didn't mention having a friend coming along."

"Ah. Forgot to introduce." Rogan said. "Kate, this is Michael Rogan, US Army Colonel, and my little brother. Michael, this is Kate Green, AMS Agent.

"Former," Kate adds.

"I see. Nice to meet you, Kate, and welcome to Hawaii," Michael said.

"Thank you, Colonel," Kate said while saluting him.

"No no no, it's okay to call me Michael casually. Honestly, I hate being called by my rank." Michael said to Kate.

"Okay... Michael." Kate cheekily said.

"That's better." Michael smiled. "So, I guess it's over isn't it Rog?"

"Yup. It's over." Rogan said.

"A cause for celebration then!" Michael happily exclaimed. "Let's go, guys, I'll take y'all for lunch. Don't worry, it's on me!"

The group cheered in celebration, though Rogan was embarrassed by Michael's exclamation. As the group made their walk towards the shore, Rogan looks behind and find Kate staying behind, resting on the railings. Rogan lets Michael and G make their way first and instead walk back towards Kate.

"Hey," Rogan said. "What are you doing?"

"Hey, Rogan. Just... Enjoying the air. I can't believe I've survived." Kate said.

"You did great defending yourself by the way." Rogan compliments her. "James would be so proud."

"You know, I felt somehow guilty. My friends... They could have survived."

"It's not your fault, Kate."

"I know, but I feel like I'm partially responsible for their deaths. You can't get rid of that feeling."

Rogan nods in agreement and understanding.

"That being said." Kate continued. "They trust in me, to stop Schaeffer, and I did it. We did it. They're probably up there, with James alongside them, watching from above. I feel like they're going to be proud of me."

"They will, Kate. They definitely will."

The two then watch people playing around on the beach, happily enjoying their time. Kate closes her eyes and enjoys the calming breeze.

"I'll leave you be then." Rogan then said to Kate as he slowly leaves her behind.

"Wait." Kate suddenly said after a while.

Rogan turns around. "What is it?"

"You said on the chopper before... That you're going to build a new team, to counter the outbreaks and possibly finding the cure, right?"

"Yeah, I did. But like I said, I'm not sure if it's possible." Rogan said.

Kate turns around and looks at Rogan. Her eyes show determination. She smiled.

"I know, when do we start?"

Rogan replies with a chuckle.

* * *

Somewhere, far from danger, an old man enters his private room. The old man wears a white collared shirt with a black striped tuxedo and matching pants and shoes. The room is spacious, with large curtains covering its windows, old paintings on the walls, large floral patterned carpet on the floor, and white walls with gold ornaments. He walks slowly to his chair, with a cane to help him. He walks towards an old phonograph. He looks around and takes a vinyl from its shelf. He puts the vinyl on the phonograph, spins it, and places the cartridge on the disk. The vinyl begins to play a piece of classical music; Requiem by Mozart. Satisfied by the music choice he made, he then sits on his chair and relaxes.

On his desk in front of him is a set of chess, jumbled and messed up. On the board stands several chess pieces, placed in certain locations. Some of them have fallen, while others stand.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door. The man simply said, "Come in."

The door opens and a man enters the room. He is well dressed in a tidy tuxedo, matching pants and shoes with a white sleeved shirt and gloves. There's a small kettle, a strainer, and an empty cup on the tray he's bringing inside. He comes towards the man and makes a slight head nod. He takes the kettle and poured warm tea into the cup through the strainer, before giving the cup to the old man. The old man sips his tea and smiled in satisfaction.

"So, do you have any news for me?" The old man asks while enjoying the music.

"Mr. Schaeffer has unfortunately died. He didn't make it out of the city. His last known location according to his tracker confirms it." The servant said.

"That young fool. Ambition and greed have consumed him. I should have known better..."

"However, he did manage to bring the AMS to its collapse. Most if not all of the AMS agents were either killed or went to hiding."

"I see... But I am more interested in something else." The old man said. "I heard Mr. Rogan and Mrs. Green were on the scene. What is their status?"

"We have confirmed that Mr. Rogan and Mrs. Green were around during the attack. However, according to their PDA's, they've died. Their last known location according to the GPS is somewhere in Washington, DC."

"I don't like vague information. What about Mrs. Green's badge? Schaeffer implanted a GPS chip within the badge, yes?"

"The last coordinates the badge PDA also shows that they're still in DC, sir." The servant said. "I also would like to inform you that the Protocol went off just this morning, at 7.00 AM, around 5 hours ago."

"I see. Well, it is safe to assume that they're no longer shall intervene in our plans from now on. However, I need you to sent a small recon group to retrieve their bodies, if it's possible."

"Yes, sir." The servant simply said. He makes a small nod before walking out of the room.

The old man sighed. He then plays around his chess pieces by himself, with the music accompanying him. First, he moves 3 white pawn pieces before knocking them off with his black pawn pieces. He then moves one of his black knight pieces towards a position, before taking a white knight piece and knocks it over. He moves a single white pawn piece to a position disadvantageous to him and soon got knocked down by his piece, the King.

He looks at his current chess pieces. On the white position, the King, the Queen, a Bishop, two Knights, two Rooks, and 3 pawns still standing in different positions. On the opposing black position. His King, Queen, a knight, two rooks and eight pawn pieces still stand, also in different positions. The old man attempts to knock down The White King by himself but then puts it back to its place.

"...Not yet." The old man said, staring intensely at that piece. "You're still alive, don't you? Yes... I knew it. I knew that you're not going to die that easily, especially with that stubborn attitude of yours. The AMS, they're too stubborn to die, just like you."

The old man chuckled. "I guess I'll have to keep this game alive and kicking. It ain't fun if it ends this way."

"Ain't that right, Rogan?" The man slowly said. As the song reaches the end, he places a black pawn piece to the other side, promoting it into a new Black Queen piece. The new Black Queen piece was then placed to the center of the board, surrounded by a White Rook, the White King, the White Queen, and the last White Bishop. The white pieces are also surrounded each with a black pawn nearby them.

The old man looks at his new setup, seemingly satisfied. He turns around, sips his tea, and chuckled sinisterly. The song ends, and the vinyl stopped spinning.

* * *

 _ **To be continued in the next House of the Dead.**_


End file.
